The Celebration of High Mass
c. 1776
Medium
Etching and acquatint in brown and green on cream wove paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 32.8 × 23.7 cm (12 15/16 × 9 3/8 in.); Sheet: 41.7 × 31.2 cm (16 7/16 × 12 5/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
109054
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Working with her husband, Johann Gottlieb Prestel (1739–1808), Maria Prestel created the Schmidt’sches Kabinett (Schmidt’s Art Cabinet), a compilation of prints reproducing works owned by the collector Gerhard Joachim Schmidt (1742–1801). Prestel combined etching and aquatint, replicating Jacopo Vignali’s original pen-and-wash drawings. The highlights suggest wispy rays of light, or haloes, which radiate from the monks’ tonsured heads. In the lower-left corner is an incense burner, perhaps held ...