Persée et Méduse
Medium
Etching, state i
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Robert Hartshorne, 1918
Accession Number
18.48.2-28
Tags
Art Historical Context
Stefano della Bella's *Persée et Méduse* (1644), an exquisite etching in its first state (state i), captures the dramatic myth of Perseus slaying the Gorgon Medusa. The Italian Baroque artist, renowned for his intricate printmaking, depicts the hero wielding a shield and sword against the monstrous head, with horses and weapons adding dynamic tension to the scene. Created during della Bella's time in Paris, this print exemplifies his mastery of fine lines and textures, evoking movement and peril in a compact format typical of 17th-century etchings. Produced under the patronage of influential ...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella|Jean Desmarets de Saint-Sorlin|Henri Le Gras|Louis XIV, King of France|Cardinal Jules Mazarin · 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...