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Miravan

A work made of mezzotint on off-white laid paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of mezzotint on off-white laid paper.

Date:

1772

Artist:

Valentine Green (English, 1739-1813)
after Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)

About this artwork

Being relatively cheap and widely available, prints reproducing Joseph Wright of Derby’s paintings were largely responsible for establishing his reputation. Valentine Green’s mezzotint captures the drama and exoticism of Wright’s painting of the story of Miravan, a young nobleman who raided the tomb of his ancestor looking for treasure, only to find an inscription rebuking him for his greed and for disturbing the eternal rest of the dead. The rich blacks and bright highlights of the mezzotint technique were ideally suited to the translation of the unusual lamplight that had become one of Wright’s trademarks.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Valentine Green

Title

Miravan

Place

England (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1772

Medium

Mezzotint on off-white laid paper

Dimensions

Image: 46 × 35.4 cm (18 1/8 × 13 15/16 in.); Plate: 50.5 × 35.5 cm (19 15/16 × 14 in.); Sheet: 66.9 × 52.5 cm (26 3/8 × 20 11/16 in.)

Credit Line

Sara R. Shorey Endowment and Dr. William D. and Sara R. Shorey Fund

Reference Number

1990.502

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/116242/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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