Hoofden van een oude en van een jonge vrouw 1620 - 1664

Stefano della Bella made this drawing, entitled 'Heads of an Old Woman and a Young Woman,' with pen and brown ink. The image presents us with an exercise in contrasts. Della Bella pairs the head of a young woman with the head of an old woman. We might consider the meaning of the image through the lens of the artist's biography. He lived in Italy during the Baroque age and then moved to Paris. He was trained as an etcher and printmaker, and in 1642, he became a master designer to the Medici. We can understand this image better by researching the social history of Florence and Paris in the 17th Century. We might ask, were there any specific social and institutional contexts that shaped the artist’s vision? What was the status of artists at court? And what were the institutions of art making? These are the questions that art historians must consider.