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Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight

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

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

Date:

1769

Artist:

William Pether (English, 1731/38-1821)
after Joseph Wright of Derby (English, 1734-1797)

About this artwork

Before Valentine Green and Richard Earlom, William Pether created major mezzotints from several of the 14 paintings Joseph Wright of Derby exhibited in London between 1765 and 1772. Many of these were “candlelight pictures,” a genre exceedingly well suited to mezzotint tones. Yet Pether waited for a successful review of the 1766 painting for A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery before he began the laborious mezzotint process, completing it only in 1768. The print sold so well that Valentine Green saw a lucrative opportunity and absconded with the mezzotint commission that could have been Pether’s for Experiment on the Air Pump.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

William Pether

Title

Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight

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.

Published 1769

Medium

Mezzotint in black on off-white laid paper

Dimensions

Image/plate: 48.2 × 55.5 cm (19 × 21 7/8 in.); Sheet: 48.9 × 56.5 cm (19 5/16 × 22 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Mary S. Adams, William McCallin McKee Memorial and Print and Drawing Anonymous Funds

Reference Number

1995.31

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/137059/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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