The Evening Prayer
Medium
Opaque watercolor, over traces of black chalk, on cream laid paper, laid down on card
Dimensions
Primary support: 28.8 × 38.6 cm (11 3/8 × 15 1/4 in.); Secondary support: 29.5 × 38.9 cm (11 5/8 × 15 3/8 in.)
Classification
watercolor
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
229972
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Jean-Baptiste Mallet was a painter and printmaker who specialized in small, elegant gouaches (opaque watercolors) of enigmatic subjects, such as this. Arranged like an implausible stage set, a monk-like character and an old man wearing a Phrygian cap appear to reprimand a largely female family who must have fallen on tough times, given that their handsome carpet and ornamental birdcage decorate a rusticated farm building.