Bella, Stefano

(1610 - 1664)

Stefano della Bella (18 May 1610 - 12 July 1664) was an Italian printmaker known for engraved prints of military subjects.

He was born at Florence, and apprenticed to a goldsmith; but some prints of Jacques Callot having fallen into his hands, he began to turn his attention entirely towards engraving, and studied the art under Canta Gallina, who had also been the instructor of Callot. By the liberality of Lorenzo de Medici he was enabled to spend three years in study at Rome. In 1642 he went to Paris, where Cardinal Richelieu engaged him to go to Arras and make drawings of the siege and taking of that town by the royal army. After residing a considerable time at Paris he returned to Florence, where he obtained a pension from the grand duke, whose son, Cosimo de Medici, he instructed in drawing. His productions were very numerous, amounting to over 1400 separate pieces.