The Tree House at Pratolino
ca. 1653
Medium
Etching; first state of two
Dimensions
sheet: 9 13/16 x 14 1/2 in. (25 x 36.8 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1967
Accession Number
67.689.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the enchanting etching *The Tree House at Prat* (ca. 1653), Stefano della Bella captures a whimsical architectural folly nestled among towering trees. This first-state impression—before any revisions to the plate—showcases della Bella's mastery of Baroque printmaking. A leading 17th-century Italian etcher, he worked for the Medici court in Florence, producing intricate landscapes and capriccios that blend fantasy with precise observation. Here, human scale ladders and perch in the elevated wooden structure, evoking the playful grandeur of Renaissance gardens. The scene depicts Pratolino, t...
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...