Saturday, October 29, 2016

Drawings and Etchings by Stefano della Bella

Stefano della Bella
Title page for collection Ornamenti o Grottesche
Ornamental and Grotesque Inventions 
ca. 1653
etching
Metropolitan Museum of Art

"I was disturbed by the wildest dreams. I thought I saw Elizabeth, in the bloom of health, walking in the streets of Ingolstadt. Delighted and surprised, I embraced her; but as I imprinted the first kiss on her lips, they became livid with the hue of death; her features appeared to change, and I thought that I held the corpse of my dead mother in my arms; a shroud enveloped her form, and I saw the grave-worms crawling in the folds of the flannel. I started from my sleep with horror; a cold dew covered my forehead, my teeth chattered, and every limb became convulsed: when, by the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window shutters, I beheld the wretch  the miserable monster whom I had created."

 from Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

Stefano della Bella
Ornamental arrangement of armour and horse-heads
17th century
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Girl holding up a hare
ca. 1653
etching
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Wenceslaus Hollar
Portrait of Stefano della Bella
1649
etching
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Five groups of acrobats
1652
etching
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Two children embracing
ca. 1662
etching
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
The genius of drawing
17th century
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Three standing figures in antique costumes
17th century
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Five men, half-length
1640s
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
A Procession
1640s
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Two figures on horseback followed by a soldier on foot
17th century
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Design for a sleigh in the shape of a griffin
17th century
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Design for cartouche
17th century
drawing
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Stefano della Bella
Tree-house at Pratolino
ca. 1653
etching
Metropolitan Museum of Art

I am grateful for the excellent reproductions from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.