Stella, Jacques

Stella, Jacques (b Lyons, 19 Sept. 1596; d Paris, 29 Apr. 1657). French painter, engraver, and draughtsman. From about 1619 to 1634 he lived in Italy, first in Florence, where he worked for Cosimo II de' Medici, making engravings of his festivities, and then from 1623 in Rome, where he became a friend of Poussin and one of his closest followers. He had a high reputation in his day, in both Italy and France, but it is now much faded. Most of his surviving paintings are fairly close to Poussin in style and spirit, although without the master's power of design and intellectual complexity (Adoration of the Child, 1639, Bowes Mus., Barnard Castle). However, he also painted a different type of work—small pictures on marble or other expensive stone, in which the veining is allowed to show through the paint in places and form part of the composition. These luxury items were popular in Florence at the time but were unusual for a French artist.