Stefano Della Bella - [Horse ballet].

French ballet prints, 17th century. Ballet has its origins in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th and 16th centuries. It spread from Italy to France with the help of Catherine de' Medici. In the late 17th century Louis XIV founded the Académie Royale de Musique (the Paris Opera) within which emerged the first professional theatrical ballet company, the Paris Opera Ballet. The predominance of French in the vocabulary of ballet reflects this history.

During Middle Ages, Church considered dance as a sin and condemned it. Records of Medieval dance are fragmented and limited, but a noteworthy dance reference from the medieval period is the allegory of the Danse Macabre. During the Renaissance, dance experienced growing popularity. Country dances, performed for pleasure, became distinct from court dances, which had ceremonial and political functions. In Germany, originated from a modified ländler, the waltz was introduced in all the European courts. The 16th century Queen of France Catherine de' Medici promoted and popularized dance in France and helped develop the ballet de cour. The production of the Ballet Comique de la Reine in 1581 is regarded by scholars as the first authentic ballet. In the 17th century, the French minuet, characterized by its bows, courtesies and gallant gestures, permeated the European cultural landscape.

Printmaking in woodcut and engraving came to Northern Italy within a few decades of their invention north of the Alps. Engraving probably came first to Florence in the 1440s, the goldsmith Maso Finiguerra (1426–64) used the technique. Italian engraving caught the very early Renaissance, 1460–1490. Print copying was a widely accepted practice, as well as copying of paintings viewed as images in their own right.

Florentine artist Stefano Della Bella was among the best etchers of the Italian Baroque. He created about 1,050 prints and thousands of drawings. His earlier work was greatly influenced by the French Jacques Callot (1592-1635) who worked for the court of the Medici. Three of Stefano’s older brothers were artists. Della Bella probably learned etching from Remigio Cantagallina (1582/3-1656), who had been Callot’s teacher. Della Bella’s earliest prints date from around 1627. Della Bella received the patronage and a stipend from Lorenzo de’ Medici and studied in Rome. In 1639 he journeyed to Paris where Della Bella collected prints by Northern European artists, copied works by Rembrandt. He received commissions from Cardinals Richelieu and Mazarin. His prints were innovative, seeming to look forward to the Rococo. Della Bella also engraved views of Paris. He visited Amsterdam in 1647. French anti-Italian feeling during the Fronde and the death of Mazarin during the late 1640s led to della Bella’s return to Florence. Della Bella produced some of his best work after his return. Della Bella is known to have illustrated some discoveries for Galileo and depicted Hansken the famous elephant, when dead. In his final years, he produced a number of prints experimenting with tonal effects attempting to achieve drawing effects in etching. In 1661 he appears to have suffered a stroke, after which he produced little work.