Cartouche with Scallop Shell and Blank Escutcheon, plate 7 from Raccolta di varii capricii et nove inventioni di cartelle et ornamenti (Collection of Various Caprices and Nine Inventions of Plaques and Ornaments)
Stefano Della Bella, Italian, 1610 - 1664
1646
Etching mounted on wove paper
Sheet: 7 9/16 × 7 5/16 in. (19.2 × 18.6 cm)
Sheet (Irreg.): 12 1/4 × 9 3/16 in. (31.1 × 23.4 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift in memory of Mrs. Harvey Fisk by her children
PR.974.398
Publisher
François Langlois, il Ciartres, Paris
Geography
Place Made: Italy, Europe
Period
1600-1800
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Inscriptions
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.; inscribed, in graphite, on paper support, lower left: Stefano della Bella. [underscored] / Born at Florence, 1610. / Fellow pupil of Callot. / "No artist has handled / the etching point with / more facility and finesse." / Duplessis [underscored]; inscribed, in graphite, on paper support, lower right: Designed and etched / By Della Bella. [underscored]
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 cartouche, that incorporated popular decorative elements and could be adapted for any number of uses in different media. The blank center of this design leaves space for a coat of arms or emblem that would be specific to the patron.
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
Elizabeth Richmond Fisk (1885-1966) [Mrs. Harvey Edward Fisk], Woodstock, Vermont; to her children, Elizabeth Fisk Tyler (1912-1978), Margaretta Fisk Paine (1915-1952); Ursula Fisk Clough (1917-1989), and Anne Fisk Howe (1921-2001), 1966; given to present collection, 1974.
Catalogue Raisonne
Vesme (1971): 1033
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