The Life Class of the Vienna Academy

1790

Not on view

Members of the Vienna Academy are represented sketching, painting, and sculpting from a live model. Quadal, who specialized in portraits and animal subjects, sits sketching in the right foreground. Jacobé taught mezzotint—an intaglio technique in which subtle gradations of light and shade form the image—at the Vienna Academy. Thanks to his professorship, Vienna produced the only significant school of mezzotint artists in the late eighteenth century outside of London. This impression is a proof, a step in the working process, and the names of the artists had yet to be engraved on the plate. They were added by hand in brown ink in the bottom margin.

Artwork Details

Title: The Life Class of the Vienna Academy
Artist: Johann Jacobe (Austrian, Vienna 1733–1797 Vienna)
Artist: After Martin Ferdinand Quadal (Austrian, 1736–1811)
Date: 1790
Medium: Mezzotint; proof
Dimensions: sheet: 25 1/2 x 31 3/8 in. (64.7 x 79.7 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2003
Object Number: 2003.477
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Martin Ferdinand Quadal

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

The Honorable Miss Monckton

Multiple artists/makers

1779–81

Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints, Gideon Saint British, Pen and ink, engraving and etching — Scrapbook of Drawings and Prints
Gideon Saint
ca. 1760

Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, Joseph Adrianus Clarot Austrian, Mezzotint; proof before letters — Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
Joseph Adrianus Clarot
Giambettino Cignaroli
1793

Self-Portrait, from "The Iconography", Anthony van Dyck Flemish, Etching; first state of seven — Self-Portrait, from "The Iconography"
Anthony van Dyck
ca. 1640

The Genius of Castiglione, Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione (Il Grechetto) Italian, Etching — The Genius of Castiglione
Multiple artists/makers
ca. 1645–47 (published 1648)

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.