William Pether. Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight. 1769. England. Mezzotint in black on off-white laid paper 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 prin

• Contributor: WBC ART / Alamy Stock Photo
• Image ID: 2AHPCN8
• File size: 22.4 MB (896.9 KB Compressed download)
• Releases: Model - no | Property - no
• Dimensions: 3000 x 2610 px | 25.4 x 22.1 cm | 10 x 8.7 inches | 300dpi

More information

This image is a public domain image, which means either that copyright has expired in the image or the copyright holder has waived their copyright. Alamy charges you a fee for access to the high resolution copy of the image.

This image could have imperfections as it’s either historical or reportage.

William Pether. Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight. 1769. England. Mezzotint in black on off-white laid paper 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.