The Celebration of High Mass

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.