Design for an Ewer Gm-24182301

Stefano della Bella (Italian, 1610–1664) On top of a gnarled tree, an eagle stands with outstretched wings. With its claws, the imposing bird attacks a coiled serpent. Two putti pull at the wings of a second eagle that carries a pair of entwined spouts on its back. This fanciful scene is a design for a glass cup and is explained in the inscription at the bottom of the sheet: white wine should be poured into one tube and red wine into the other, so that the red wine fills the eagles and snakes, and the white wine fills the rest.

Stefano della Bella began this work by creating a preliminary sketch in black chalk. He then worked the sketch using a finely sharpened quill pen. Avoiding hard outlines, della Bella used tiny hair-like strokes for the contours to define the forms. A blue wash evokes the presence of liquid inside a transparent shell.

Della Bella made this design for a member of the Medici family in Florence. Elaborate glass table ornaments were common at the Medici court and often accompanied ceremonial banquets. However, this drawing's complexity suggests that a goblet constructed to its fantastic design never graced the tabletop at a Medici feast. Instead, it served as an example of artistic ingenuity, admired by the patron as proof of della Bella's imaginative powers.

We make each of our prints one at a time—just for you.

Our Giclée Prints are printed here in Switzerland, one at a time, on heavy matte German art paper using the finest 12-color Canon archival inks. Some images are panoramic or tall and narrow—please select the 18" x 36" format for these.

Our Premium Museum Frame in Black is custom-made in Lugano, Switzerland, using natural wood moulding in a matte black satin finish. Each includes thick, hand-cut white mat boards and Plexiglass glazing. We tailor and print each image to fit its specific ratio and dimensions within our custom-made frames. The hand-cut mats are extra thick. Each bespoke museum frame ships in a custom box. Rush shipping is available for projects with tight deadlines—this is our specialty, and you will not be disappointed.

Our Antiqued Museum Frame in Gold is a high-quality frame made of solid wood, featuring traditional 19th-century cast plaster moulded details and closed corners. These frames are works of art in themselves, each with a unique patina. The hand-rubbed corners and gold finish evoke the elegance of times past. Your selected image is printed on German art paper with archival inks and mounted to quality art board within the frame. Plexiglass is added for print protection and the back is covered with Kraft paper and a hanger is supplied ready to hang..

Our Stretched Canvas prints are hand-stretched over 1.25" thick pine bars and printed with archival inks on a cotton-poly matte finish canvas. These are best-in-industry Swiss-quality canvases, hand-coated for UV protection.

Wall Murals are printed on a matte-finish, self-adhesive poly/fabric material that mounts easily and is ideal for smooth wall surfaces.

Our Note Cards are amazing—each is printed individually on 100% cotton art paper, comes with a kraft envelope, and is individually sleeved. (Image is scaled to fit the format.)

All of our images are digitized from the original negative or print and printed by our master printer to museum standards.

Questions? Please email service@archivea.com or call/text +41 79 265 8891.

Artwork in this collection is from The J. Paul Getty Museum. Reproduction rights are reserved by the copyright owner and used under license by Archivea GmbH.