Plate 2: eagle and eaglet, from 'Various animals' (Diversi animali) 1636 - 1646

Stefano della Bella created this print of an eagle and eaglet as part of his series, 'Various animals'. It’s made with etching, a printmaking technique that was rising in popularity in the 17th century. Consider the role of prints in the social and cultural life of the time. They made images more widely accessible and this availability shaped how people thought about the world. Della Bella, who was working in Florence and Paris, would have been responding to a growing market for natural history imagery. The eagle, traditionally a symbol of power and empire, takes on a different resonance here as an object of scientific study. To truly understand this print, we need to research the scientific and artistic networks in which Della Bella was working. What kind of knowledge did he draw on? How does his depiction of animals compare with others? What did viewers at the time think about the relationship between science and art? These are just some of the questions a social art historian might ask.