Plate 20: Wolf, from "Various animals" (Diversi animali)
Medium
Etching; reverse copy
Dimensions
Sheet (trimmed): 3 3/8 × 4 1/16 in. (8.6 × 10.3 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Bequest of Grace M. Pugh, 1985
Accession Number
1986.1180.603
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold Plate 20: *Wolf*, from Stefano della Bella's enchanting series *Various Animals* (*Diversi animali*), a testament to 17th-century in printmaking. Created after 1641, this captures the wolf's wild intensity with delicate, fluid lines characteristic of della Bella, a Florentine artist renowned for his lively depictions of nature. Though attributed to him and an anonymous contemporary, it exemplifies the Baroque era's fascination with the natural world, blending scientific observation with artistic flair. As a "reverse copy"—a mirrored impression taken from an inked plate before printing—...
About the Artist
Stefano della Bella|Anonymous, 17th century · 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...