Art Institute of Chicago

The Celebration of High Mass

Maria Katharina Prestel (German, 1747-1794)

Date

c. 1776

Medium

Etching and acquatint in brown and green on cream wove paper

Culture

Germany

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

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.

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