Plate Two from Raccolta di Vasi diversi di Stef. de la Bella Fiorentino 1646

This etching, Plate Two from Raccolta di Vasi diversi, is after an original by Stefano della Bella, and was made by Johanna Sibylla Küsel. Küsel was one of the few women working as a professional printmaker in Augsburg, Germany during the baroque period. This print reproduces a series of elaborate vase designs, reflecting the baroque fascination with ornamentation and the natural world. The vases are adorned with flowers, foliage, and figures, including putti and satyrs, evoking a sense of classical antiquity and mythological narratives. The playful figures inhabiting these vases seem to suggest a world where art and life are intertwined. Küsel’s work exists in a complex intersection. As a woman in a male-dominated field, her identity undoubtedly shaped her artistic practice and the reception of her work. These images provide an insight into the aesthetic preferences of the period, and how artists navigated themes of nature, mythology, and human form. Consider how Küsel's identity may have influenced her interpretation and recreation of della Bella's designs.