Pole and death

Stefano della Bella was born on 18 May 1610 in Florence as the son of the sculptor Francesco di Girolamo della Bella. At the age of ten he studied in the goldsmith's workshop with Giovanni Battista Fossi, then with Orazio Vanni, and engraving with Remigio Cantagallina. His older brothers also received artistic training. He made almost a thousand engravings in numerous prints and about seven thousand drawings.

Della Bella is one of the most outstanding representatives of 17th century Italian graphic art. His work falls into the period of domination of the etching technique among graphic painters. The technique was used by such artists as Guido Reni, Simone Cantarini, Antonio Tempesta, Salvator Rosa, Pietro Testa, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. The leading artistic centre that was Rome gave way to the individual studios of graphic artists.

Stefano della Bella took up the motif of death on several occasions. One example is the series of allegorical prints Śmierć zabierająca ofiary [Death Taking Its Victims], which stands out from the artist's work. He may have been prompted to take the theme by the situation in France, where he had been staying since 1639. On the initiative of Richelieu and Mazarin, he was sent to the sites of spectacular battles to draw documentation. The Thirty Years' War caused much destruction, famine and spotted fever decimated the population. The depiction of children and women, which intensifies the tragedy of the situation, is very moving in the series. Those paintings may have been inspired by medieval allegories of danse macabre, equating people of all classes in the face of the inevitable end of life.

Apart from the cycle, the motif appeared in a series of ornamental and other graphics, such as Polak i śmierć [A Pole and Death]. Death is personified by a mortal, a skeleton, covered with dry skin. The ghostly face, shown screaming, enhances the expression and horror of the figure lurking behind the back of the Polish nobleman.

Klara Sadkowska