Stefano Della Bella Biography
Stefano della Bella (1610 - 1664) was a Renaissance artist known for his production of engravings.
He began working early in his life producing covers for Jacques Callot, who greatly influenced his work. Over the course of his fifty-four year career, he devoted himself primarily to recordings, producing more than 1,400. In his work, he also dedicated himself to the creation of numerous designs used as preparation for his final molds.
Della Bella spent most of his life in Florence, where he was supported by the powerful Medici family. He also worked in Paris for ten years, where he became famous under the patronages of Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu. He also spent periods in Rome and the Netherlands, where he is believed to have met Rembrandt, whose style can be recognized in his later artistic production.
The artist is known for the wide variety of subjects he has used, from using animals to disguise drawings to military scenes. Among his most famous projects are a series of playing cards with mythological themes commissioned for the building of Louis XIII and a series of "Dance of Death". At the end of his life, Della Bella experimented with a new printing technique, which allowed him to create a more nuanced tone in his drawings, similar to but much older than modern aquatin.
