Acquatinta e acquaforte, stampata in seppia, 1789. Dalla serie: A collection of prints, after the sketches and drawings of the late celebrated Giovanni Battista Cipriani pubblicata a Londra da John & Josiah Boydell. La serie consiste di cinquanta stampe da disegni di Cipriani 'incisi da Mr. Richard Earlom' inclusee sette incise da Maria Catharina Prestel, Bartolozzi, Kirk e Legat. Maria Katharina Prestel (22 luglio 1747 - 16 marzo 1794), nata Maria Katharina Höll, è stata un'incisore e pittrice di Norimberga, attiva a Londra. Figlia di Maria e Thomas Höll, Prestel nacque a Norimberga dove divenne allieva di Johann Gottlieb Prestel. Si sposò con Prestel nel 1769 ma la coppia si separò nel 1786, quando si trasferì a Londra con la figlia Ursula Magdalena Prestel. Qui lavorò per John Boydell realizzando acquetinte. La carriera di Prestel a Londra fu di grande successo e alla sua morte, avvenuta nel 1794, aveva prodotto più di settantatre lastre di incisioni su opere di artisti tedeschi, italiani e olandesi. Era famosa per le sue grandi stampe di paesaggi all'acquatinta, con le quali riproduceva abilmente i sottili dettagli dei dipinti di paesaggi romantici. Giovanni Battista Cipriani, (1727-1785) fu un pittore decorativo e designer fiorentino, attivo principalmente in Inghilterra. Nel 1755 fu portato a Londra dall'architetto Sir William Chambers e dallo scultore Joseph Wilton, che lo avevano conosciuto a Roma. Fu impiegato nella decorazione di molti edifici pubblici e case private e in alcuni casi progettò dettagli architettonici come intonaco, legno e scultura in pietra. Buoni esempi dei suoi dipinti sono alla Somerset House (dove lavorò per Chambers) e nel Philadelphia Museum of Art (una serie originariamente eseguita per Lansdowne House, Londra). Fu anche attivo come insegnante alla Royal Academy (fu membro fondatore nel 1768 e disegnò il suo diploma), e i suoi numerosi disegni decorativi (molti incisi da Bartolozzi, suo amico dai tempi degli studenti) ebbero una grande influenza. Il lavoro di Cipriani è compiuto piuttosto che ispirato, ma fu, nelle parole di Sir Ellis Waterhouse, 'una delle grandi figure di retrovia dello stile neoclassico in Inghilterra'. Aquatint and etching, printed in sepia ink, 1789. From the series: A collection of prints, after the sketches and drawings of the late celebrated Giovanni Battista Cipriani published in London by John & Josiah Boydell. The series consists of fifty-plate series of facsimile prints of Cipriani's drawings 'engraved by Mr. Richard Earlom' includes seven engraved by Maria Catharina Prestel, Bartolozzi, Kirk and Legat.. A letterpress contents page of the same sheet size, kept under Earlom's name with the majority of the series, gives titles and the series publication date of September 1st, 1789. Maria Katharina Prestel (22 July 1747 – 16 March 1794) born Maria Katharina Höll, was an engraver and painter from Nuremberg, and active in London. Prestel, daughter of Maria and Thomas Höll, was born in Nuremberg where she became a pupil of Johann Gottlieb Prestel. She married Prestel in 1769 but the couple separated in 1786, at which point she moved to London with her daughter Ursula Magdalena Prestel. There she worked for John Boydell making aquatints. Her painting Gypsies on a Common was included in the 1905 book Women Painters of the World. Prestel's career in London was quite successful and by the time of her death in 1794, she had produced more than seventy three engraving plates after works by German, Italian, and Dutch artists. She was celebrated for her large aquatint landscape prints, through which she skillfully replicated subtle details of romanticized landscape paintings. Prestel died in Greater London. Giovanni Battista Cipriani, (1727-1785) was a Florentine decorative painter and designer, active mainly in England. In 1755 he was brought to London by the architect Sir William Chambers and the sculptor Joseph Wilton, who had met him in Rome. He was employed in the decoration of many public buildings and private houses and in some cases designed such architectural details as plasterwork, woodwork, and stonecarving. Good examples of his paintings are at Somerset House (where he worked for Chambers) and in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (a series originally executed for Lansdowne House, London). He was also active as a teacher at the Royal Academy (he was a foundation member in 1768 and designed its diploma), and his numerous decorative designs (many engraved by Bartolozzi, his friend since student days) had wide influence. Cipriani's work is accomplished rather than inspired, but he was, in the words of Sir Ellis Waterhouse, 'one of the great backroom figures of the Neoclassic style in England'.
