Stag Hunt in Fan Shape (1630/60): Artwork and History

Stag Hunt in Fan Shape (1630/60) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Stefano della Bella Italian, 1610-1664.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

Stefano della Bella made several printed fans that were meant to be cut out, mounted, and used, an application inspired by a fan Jacques Callot made in 1619 for the Medici family. A unique example in a canonical folding fan shape depicts a stag hunt. This undated proof is trimmed just outside the platemark, showing that the plate was cut to follow the shape of the accessory it depicted. The lively intertwining of the floral wreaths along the borders and around the main action emphasizes the sense of three-dimensionality that would result when the print was fully constructed.

Object facts

• Title: Stag Hunt in Fan Shape
• Date: 1630/60
• Artist attribution: Stefano della Bella Italian, 1610-1664
• Place of origin: Italy
• Medium: Fan-shaped etching in black on ivory laid paper
• Dimensions: 23.5 × 45 cm (9 5/16 × 17 3/4 in.)
• Type: Print
• Department: Prints and Drawings
• Reference number: 1957.356

Collection credit

Stanley Field Fund

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.