Della Bella was born at Florence to a family of artists, and was apprenticed to a goldsmith,[3] but became an engraver working briefly under Orazio Vanni and then Cesare Dandini.

He resided in the Medici Palace, producing vedute and drawings of antiquities as well as crowded images of public occasions in a series of sketchbooks.

[8] Della Bella created a series of six prints forming a long, 2.5-meter panel, showing the Polish Ambassador’s Ceremonial Entry into Rome in 1633.

[4] Della Bella also engraved views of Paris, including a very large print of the Pont Neuf, looking south from the entrance of the Place Dauphine, with topographically accurate depictions of the buildings south of the bridge on the banks of the Seine, such as the Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois, the Petit Bourbon and the Louvre Palace on the right bank and the Hôtel de Nevers, the Tour de Nesle, and in the distance, the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, on the left.

The road over the bridge and in front of the central platform with the statue of Henri IV is crowded with carriages, wagons, people, and animals.

Among the 451 distinct figures are beggars, gypsies, hurdy-gurdy players, children and tooth-pullers, with horses, donkeys, dogs, and even a lamb.

[4] French anti-Italian feeling during the Fronde, and the death of Mazarin probably forced della Bella's return to Florence, where he obtained a pension from the grand duke, whose son, Cosimo III de' Medici, he instructed in drawing.