Part of the Entrance of the Polish Legation (G and H)
Medium
Etching; first state
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Accession Number
1971.521.2(72–b)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Stefano della Bella’s 1633 etching captures a dynamic fragment of a grand diplomatic procession—the entrance of the Polish Legation into Rome. Rendered in the first state of the print, the work showcases the artist’s signature skill at orchestrating crowds of figures and animals within a compact space. Horses rear and prance beneath armored riders, their harnesses and weapons glinting with fine etched lines that convey both motion and martial splendor. Della Bella, active in Florence and later Paris, specialized in such ceremonial and military subjects. His etchings served as both artistic re...
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...