Entrance of the Polish ambassador into Rome 27 November 1633

Stefano della Bella
Italy
1610 – 1664

Entrance of the Polish ambassador into Rome 27 November 1633
1633
six etchings on paper
Place made
Rome
Medium
six etchings on paper
State
De Vesme & Massar (1971) 44 - 49 i/iii
Dimensions
15.5 x 267.0 cm (plate)
Credit line
Gift of Margaret Bennett, Pam McKee, Marion Wells and Janet Worth through the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation Collectors Club 2009
Accession number
20097G134(a-f)
Signature and date
For inscriptions see entries for each individual sheet.
Catalogue raisonne
De Vesme & Massar (1971) 44 - 49 i/iii
Media category
Print
Collection area
European prints

  • WALL LABEL: A Beautiful Line: Italian prints from Mantegna to Piranesi, 2012

     

    This print by the Florentine Stefano della Bella vividly demonstrates the role of printmaking in disseminating information. It depicts the entrance of Jerzy Ossoliński into Rome on 27 November 1633. Stefano della Bella captured all the formal splendour of this event like a journalist at the scene. The long procession is identified by a lettered key in the lower margin, which describes the costumes and adornment of each group in detail.  His Excellency the Ambassador is shown on the final plate marked ‘X’, and text reads: “…costume of iridescent gold lined with precious furs clasped with jewels with a large hat with jewels and plumes of the most exquisite beauty on a graceful steed with shoes, bridle, and stirrups of jewelled gold…”

     

    Maria Zagala, Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs