Minneapolis Institute of Art

L'entrée d'une forteresse, frontispiece for Divers disseins tant pour la paix que pour la guerre

Stefano della Bella

Date: 1638–43
Medium: Etching
Department: European Art
Institution: Minneapolis Institute of Art

This is the frontispiece to a series of prints meant to reflect war and peace. As such, it balances the two by showing a military installation during a moment of peace. Stefano della Bella was a prolific printmaker. Due to his wide-ranging subject matter, interest in all walks of life, and eye for detail, he provides a valuable eye-witness account of his generation, one which endured the horrors of the Thirty Years War. He made this print during a decade-long sojourn in Paris. Here he offers a view of an old fortress and life around it. We stand at a distance before a gate flanked by two round towers. Weeds and small trees grow from the masonry. The portal has a drop-gate and a stairway leading to a guardroom above. In the foreground a soldier dressed in a dandified outfit converses with a halbardier. To the left are four cannons aimed across the moat and towards a walled access road. In the distance are the angular walls typical of Renaissance fortresses built a hundred years earlier. It is a lazy day. A soldier with a long pole stands. Seemingly more attentive is a nearby dog that sniffs another dog's butt. To the right, in the foreground, is a large round tower. In front of it sits a woman patiently delouisng a child while tending a cookfire. Nearby are five armored pikemen--three standing and two seated. To the left of them are two carts bearing large casks. Further on towards the portal, a group of soldiers gather around a drum that seems to have become an impromptu card table. Above the wall and within the fortress is an elevated area with a cannon and a soldier. There is also a large bell, ready to announce changes of the guard or to sound the alarm should trouble arise. At the botton of the image is a generic crowned coat-of-arms surrounded by cannons, cannonballs, a torch, guns, swords, and flags. A banderole reads ET PACE -- ET BELLO. Clearly the strategy here is peace through strength. Italy, Europe

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Divers desseins tant pour la paix que pour la guerre, L'entrée d'une forteresse, Titre. Premier numéro d'une suite de 6 pièces (A. de Vesme 264, Dutuit 75a)