Stag hunt 

Here we have Stefano della Bella's "Stag Hunt," created using pen and brown ink, a dynamic sketch alive with movement. The composition, full of curvilinear forms, draws our eye from the foreground figures to the receding landscape. Bella uses line to create a sense of depth. Note how the density of the lines increases towards the front, giving the figures weight, while the background is suggested with delicate, almost ethereal strokes. The darker tones, achieved through hatching, add volume and drama, especially in the rendering of the horses. Consider how this work challenges fixed perspectives, typical of the baroque. Instead, Bella offers a fluid interplay between action and space. The semiotic charge here, with the hunt symbolizing aristocratic power, is subtly undermined by the sketch-like quality. It's this tension between representation and suggestion that makes the drawing so compelling. It reminds us that art is always in flux, open to interpretation, and deeply embedded in the cultural dialogues of its time.