# The Triumph of Truth over Envy

**Maria Katharina Prestel** (German, 1747–1794)  
1781  
Etching and aquatint, from three plates, in brown and black, with metallic gold, on ivory laid paper  
Sheet: 30.1 × 22.9 cm (11 7/8 × 9 1/16 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2024.155. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/273410).

## About this work

Maria Katharina Prestel made this in 1781, aged 34. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

A work made of etching and aquatint, from three plates, in brown and black, with metallic gold, on ivory laid paper.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### How it was made

- **Aquatint.** Resin dust is fused to the plate and bitten with acid, so the plate prints areas of tone, like a wash, rather than lines.
- **Etching.** The artist draws with a needle through a waxy coating on a copper plate, and acid bites the exposed lines. The plate is then inked, wiped and printed under pressure, so the line keeps the freedom of drawing.
- **Laid paper.** Handmade on a mould of close-set wires, which leave fine parallel lines you can see when the sheet is held to the light.

### [Maria Katharina Prestel](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/maria-katharina-prestel)

German, 1747–1794

## Facts

- Type: Print
- Culture: Germany
- The artist was 34
- Real size: about 12 × 8½ in (30 × 22 cm). Closest to life size: the 8 × 10 in print.
- Century: 18th century
- Movement: [Rococo](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/rococo)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/450.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/450/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-triumph-of-truth-over-envy-aic-273410).