Hecube, Fredegonde, Ieanne Reyne de Naples, and Berthe, from 'The game of queens' (Le jeu des Reines renommées)
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/2 x 8 11/16 in. (8.9 x 22 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.455.2
Tags
About this artwork
Stefano della Bella created this etching in 1644 as part of 'Le Jeu des Reines Renommées' (The Game of Renowned Queens), an educational playing card series commissioned by Cardinal Mazarin for the young Louis XIV. Della Bella, an accomplished Italian printmaker working in Paris, specialized in elegant etchings that combined decorative appeal with instructive content. This sheet depicts four queens—Hecuba from classical mythology, Fredegonde the Frankish queen, Jeanne of Naples, and Berthe—each r...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella · 1610–1664
Stefano della Bella (1610-1664) was one of the most prolific and versatile printmakers of the Italian Baroque period, leaving behind 1,052 prints and several thousand drawings that captured the vivid essence of 17th-century European life. Born in Florence on May 18, 1610, to a family of artists, he trained initially as a goldsmith before studying painting under Cesare Dandini and etching under Rem...