Art Institute of Chicago

The Medici Vase, plate one from The Six Large Views of Rome and the Campagna

Stefano della Bella

Date

1656

Medium

Etching and engraving on ivory laid paper

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This etching is generally considered the earliest and most beautiful of the numerous renditions of the famed Medici Vase. Created in Athens in the first century A.D. and featuring a frieze of Iphigenia crouching beneath a statue of Diana flanked by warriors, the white marble vase was one of many highly celebrated ancient artworks that the Medici family collected in the 16th century at their Roman villa. In this print, Stefano della Bella depicted the young Cosimo III de’ Medici, the artist’s pupil and future Grand Duke of Tuscany, drawing this symbol of Italian affluence.

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