Art Institute of Chicago

Carousel for Ferdinand II, Duke of Tuscany

Stefano della Bella

Date

1637

Medium

Etching in black on ivory laid paper

Culture

Italy

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This etching commemorates the extravagant festivities marking the 1637 marriage of Ferdinando de’ Medici— also known as Ferdinand II—to the Princess of Urbino, Vittoria della Rovere. Such lavish displays of wealth maintained the social and political standing of the Italian elite. The central area shows a carriage drawn by four elephants flanked on either side by horsemen and foot soldiers, with a fictive dead dragon in tow. Bordering the central panel are the 15 movements of an equally celebratory and impressive quadrille, or equestrian ballet. Florentine by birth, della Bella worked extensively for the Medici family before going to Rome around 1683. At the top of the largest segment of this work, the coat of arms of the Medici family appears alongside that of the Rovere family.

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