Plate 2: A cannon to the left, a town in the background, from 'Various Military Caprices' (Varii capricci militari)
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (8.9 x 14 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.796.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Stefano della Bella, a Italian etcher of the Baroque era, created this lively scene as Plate 2 from his series *Varii capricci* (Various Military Caprices) around 1641. The etching depicts a imposing cannon angled to the left, with quaint town receding into the misty background, evoking the drama of 17th-century warfare. Bella, who trained in Florence and worked in Paris, excelled at capturing dynamic compositions in small formats, here on a modest sheet measuring just 3½ × 5½ inches. Etching allowed Della Bella to achieve intricate, fluid lines and rich tonal effects, biting acid into a meta...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella|François 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...