Stefano della Bella’s etching, “Hungarian horseman”, c1651

Stefano della Bella (1610–1664)

“Hungarian horseman”, c1651, from the series of eleven unnumbered round prints, “Figures on Horseback” (Cavaliers nègres, polonais et hongrois).

Etching on fine laid paper with uneven margins around the plate-mark and backed with a support sheet.

Size: (sheet) 19.3 x 18.8 cm; (plate) 19.1 x 18.3 cm; (image borderline dia.) 17.8 cm.

Inscribed on plate below the image borderline: (right) "S.D. Bella"

State i (of i)

De Vesme/Massar 1971 279 (A de Vesme, revised by Phyllis D Massar 1971, “Stefano della Bella, New York”, p. 87, cat. no. 279); Jombert (Della Bella) 175-10 (Charles Antoine.Jombert 1772, “Essai d'un catalogue de l'oeuvre d'Etienne de la Belle, peintre et graveur florentin”, Paris, p. 171, cat. no. 175-10)

“Hungarian horseman; seen from behind seated on a horse in profile to left, with a horseman behind on each side and two men on foot behind at centre; a round composition.”

(https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1479147&partId=1&searchText=1871,0513.676&page=1)

See also the description of this print at the Rijksmuseum:

http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.collect.76821

Condition: crisp, well-printed impression with a closed tear and minor abrasion at upper edge otherwise in very good condition (i.e. there are no holes, folds, stains or foxing). The sheet has been trimmed unevenly with slightly wider margins on the sides and thread margins at the top and bottom and it has been backed with a support sheet of archival (millennium quality) washi paper.

I am selling this large(ish) masterwork of etching by Della Bella portraying a horseman twisting slightly in his saddle with—surprisingly—just the tip of his left boot in the stirrup as if halting his horse and—perhaps even more interesting—further away riders shown “out of focus” rendered with predominantly vertical strokes, for AU$397 (currently US$285.14/EUR250.01/GBP215.89 at the time of posting this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world (but not, of course, any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries).

If you are interested in purchasing this magnificent etching seldom seen on the market—and a print that even the Metropolitan Museum does not have in its collection despite having the other prints from the same series—please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold