Escutcheon with Eagles and Serpents ; Two Different Halves of Cartouches Each Showing an Eagle Fighting a Serpent, plate 14 from Raccolta de varii capriccii (Collection of Various Caprices)

Inscriptions

Inscribed, in plate, upper right: 14; inscribed, in plate, lower left: Stef. Della Bella in. fecit.; inscribed, in plate, lower right: F.L.D. Il Ciartres excud. Cum Priuil. Regis Chris.; Collector's mark, stamped, in red, lower left: GARD [unidentified; Lugt 431b and Lugt 1065b]

Label

The Florentine printmaker Stefano della Bella began his career in a goldsmith’s studio. While he is celebrated today for his thousands of prints and drawings, his early training demonstrates the close connection between metalworkers and printmakers, who use many of the same techniques and tools in their work. Della Bella designed hundreds of small images like the present escutcheon that incorporated popular decorative elements such as the birds of prey and snakes seen here. These elements could be adapted for any number of uses in different media.

From the 2024 exhibition Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Curator of Academic Programming and Curator of European Art, and Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

History 42.01, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies 22.01, Gender & European Society, Patrick Meehan, Spring 2024

History 96.39, Saints and Relics, Cecilia Gaposchkin, Spring 2024

Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Noemi Perego, Spring 2024

Italian 11.01, Intensive Italian, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2024

Italian 3.01, Introductory Italian III, Tania Convertini, Spring 2024

Italian 3.02, Introductory Italian III, Giorgio Alberti, Spring 2024

Exhibition History

Living with Sculpture: Presence and Power in Europe, 1400–1750, Citrin Family Gallery and Engles Family Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, March 23, 2024–March 22, 2025.

Provenance

Dr. David James, Miami, Florida; sold to present collection, 1964.

Catalogue Raisonne

De Vesme (1971): 1040

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