Death on the Battlefield, from 'The five deaths' (Les cinq Morts)

Stefano della Bella Italian

Not on view

Stefano della Bella's first set of oval prints illustrating the triumph of Death included a battlefield scene. This horizontal version, in which the Grim Reaper approaches the skirmish on a skeletal horse, probably dates to the same years. Our sheet is a trial impression; the artist has sketched in two ideas for the position of Death's right arm, reinforcing the one he would use in the finished print, and has added a number of warriors to the background. Evidently, Della Bella did not work from a highly finished drawing but continued to compose as he worked on the etching plate.

Jombert and De Vesme date the print to around 1648. There is a strong connection between the print and a sculpture of the figure of Death on horseback also the collection of The Met (17.190.729).

Death on the Battlefield, from 'The five deaths' (Les cinq Morts), Stefano della Bella (Italian, Florence 1610–1664 Florence), Etching; proof state retouched with graphite and pen and brown ink

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