Jacob's wife

Details

Stefano della Bella (Florence 1610-1664)
Jacob's wife
black chalk, pen and brown ink, grey wash, oval
5¾ x 7½ in. (148 x 193 mm.)

Provenance

Baron de Malaussena (L. 1887), with associated mount and number '330'. Fagan.
Purchased from Tregaskis, 13 May 1921 (4 guineas).

Engraved

In reverse by the artist, with minor differences (de Vesme 823).

Special notice

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Lot Essay

This drawing is related, with minor differences mostly associated to the adjustment from oval to round format, to a series of thirteen etchings published in Paris by Langlois of ruins and other views in Rome (de Vesme 819-831). The identifiable sites are sufficiently precise to suggest that they are derived from drawings made in situ, suggesting a date either from Stefano's first trip to Rome in the service of Lorenzo de'Medici from 1633-39 or his second trip in 1651-54, partly as drawing master to the future Grand Duke Cosimo III de'Medici.

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