Small Deer Chased by a Cavalier

The image presents a narrative of chase, juxtaposing the vulnerability of the small animal with the determined advance of the cavalier. The tension between the deer's frightened posture and the rider’s forward thrust suggests themes of power, speed, and the precarious balance between hunter and prey.

Della Bella employed the etching process, incising fine lines into a copper plate before printing onto laid paper. His characteristic crisp, energetic line work conveys movement, while the delicate rendering of the deer’s thin limbs and the rider’s elongated form demonstrates his facility with rapid, expressive drawing.

Created in 1637, the print belongs to della Bella’s prolific output of more than a thousand etchings produced during his Florentine career. It reflects the artist’s broad interest in courtly, military, and genre subjects, and survives in several museum collections as a representative example of his narrative printmaking.