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The Celebration of High Mass

A work made of etching and acquatint in brown and green on cream wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of etching and acquatint in brown and green on cream wove paper.

Date:

c. 1776

Artist:

Maria Katharina Prestel (German, 1747-1794)
after Jacopo Vignali (Italian, 1592-1664)

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 by a monk just out of sight, who is participating in the Mass.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Maria Katharina Prestel

Title

The Celebration of High Mass

Place

Germany (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.

1771–1781

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.)

Credit Line

The Wallace L. DeWolf and Joseph Brooks Fair Collections

Reference Number

1920.2393

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/109054/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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