Two Men in Masquerade Costumes: A Cannon Firing and a Cat Inside a Mousetrap

c. 1645

Stefano Della Bella

Associated Names
Stefano Della Bella

Artist, Florentine, 1610 - 1664

The image shows a collection of intricate lines forming two humanoid figures in an abstract composition. On the left, a figure is depicted as part human, and part cannon, with wheels in place of hips. On the right, another humanoid shape appears with a geometric structure resembling a wooden chest or cabin for a head, and limbs extending in unnatural angles. The abstract nature of these figures combines mechanical elements with human forms.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    pen and brown ink on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 14.3 × 14.2 cm (5 5/8 × 5 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2002.31.1

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

From an album of drawings by della Bella assembled in the early 19th century owned by the 1st Earl of Gainsborough; by descent to his daughter and her husband, the 9th Earl of Southesk, Master of Kinnaird; by descent until 1946; (Arcade Gallery, London; drawings sold individually); Lodewijk Houthakker, Amsterdam (not in Lugt); (sale, Christie's New York, 25 January 2002, no. 11); purchased 2002 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1946

  • Stefano della Bella, Exhibition of 60 of His Drawings. Arcade Gallery, London, 1946, no. 40.

1976

  • De achtergrond belicht: Ontwerpen voor het theater 1580 - 1850, Noordbrabants Museum, 's-Hertogenbosch, Toneelmuseum, Amsterdam, 1976, no. 97.

Bibliography

1989

  • Furhing, P. Design into Art: Drawings for Architecture and Ornament, the Lodewijk Houthakker Collection. London, 1989: no. 657.

Wikidata ID

Q64632731

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