Plate 4: A military encampment with a soldier standing on a parapet to the right beating a drum, from 'Various Military Caprices' (Varii capricci militari)
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 7/16 x 5 1/2 in. (8.7 x 13.9 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Phyllis Massar, 2011
Accession Number
2012.136.796.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the bustling world of 17th-century printmaking, Stefano della Bella *Plate 4: A encampment with a soldier on a parapet to right beating a drum* the drama of wartime life. Created around 1641 as part of the series * Military Caprices* (i capricci militari) and published by François Langlois, this etching reflects the Italian artist's fascination with dynamic military scenes during Europe's Thirty Years' War. Della Bella, renowned for his intricate Baroque etchings, blended realism with imaginative flair, producing small-scale works like this one (3 7/16 x 5 1/2 in.) that could be widely coll...
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...