Two Heads of Old Soldiers
after 1641
Medium
Etching
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 3 7/8 × 7 7/8 in. (9.9 × 20 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Grace M. Pugh, 1985
Accession Number
1986.1180.621
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Two Heads of Old Soldiers is a compelling etching produced after 1641 by master printmaker Stefano della Bella, association to Peregrine Lovell Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings Prints department (bequest of Grace M.ugh, 1985), this trimmed sheet measures a modest 3 7/8 × 7 7/8 inches (9.9 × 20 cm). The work focuses on the profiles of two aged soldiers, their rugged features rendered with striking intimacy against the backdrop of 17th-century Europe's military upheavals. Etching, della Bella's preferred medium, involves acid-etching fine lines into a metal plate for precise...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella|Peregrine Lovell · 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...