Plate 13: a peasant woman, seen from the back, holding a basket in center, a donkey to left and a horse with a pack on its back to right, from 'Diversi capricci'

Art Historical Context

This delicate etching by Stefano della Bella, published by Nicolas Langlois, forms plate 13 of the series *Diversi capricci* (Various Caprices), created around 1644–47. The small print captures a simple rural moment: a peasant woman viewed from behind as she carries a basket, accompanied by a donkey and a laden horse. Such scenes reflect the artist’s interest in everyday life, rendered with lively observation and a touch of whimsy typical of seventeenth-century Italian printmaking. Etching was ideally suited to della Bella’s fluid style, allowing fine lines to convey texture in the animals’ coats and the folds of the woman’s clothing within a compact sheet measuring just over three by four inches. As the third state of four, this impression shows the careful evolution of the plate through adjustments made during printing. Part of the Metropolitan Museum’s collection of works on paper, the print offers modern viewers an intimate glimpse into the varied “caprices” that delighted collectors of the Baroque era.

About the Artist

Stefano della Bella|Nicolas Langlois · 1610–1664

Stefano della Bella (1610-1664) was one of the most prolific and versatile printmakers of the Italian Baroque period, leaving behind 1,052 prints and several thousand drawings that captured the vivid essence of 17th-century European life. Born in Florence on May 18, 1610, to a family of artists, he trained initially as a goldsmith before studying painting under Cesare Dandini and etching under Rem...