Plate 13: a peasant woman, seen from the back, holding a basket in center, a donkey to left and a horse with a pack on its back to right, from 'Diversi capricci'
ca. 1644–47
Medium
Etching; third state of four
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 5/16 x 4 1/16 in. (8.4 x 10.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.428.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate etching by Stefano della Bella, published by Nicolas Langlois, forms plate 13 of the series *Diversi capricci* (Various Caprices), created around 1644–47. The small print captures a simple rural moment: a peasant woman viewed from behind as she carries a basket, accompanied by a donkey and a laden horse. Such scenes reflect the artist’s interest in everyday life, rendered with lively observation and a touch of whimsy typical of seventeenth-century Italian printmaking. Etching was ideally suited to della Bella’s fluid style, allowing fine lines to convey texture in the animals’ c...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella|Nicolas Langlois · 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...