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Source Description
Trained as an architect, Abel Schlicht also designed stage sets for the Mannheim National Theater. An important forum for German cultural identity, the theater was one of the first companies to produce exclusively German-language plays, including those by beloved playwright Friedrich Schiller. Prisons were an especially popular drama subject in the 1700s, and sets would have featured in multiple productions. Here, Schlicht employed aquatint to render the gloomy space of one of his prison scenes. This technique enabled the artist to create the range of tones used to illuminate the background and plunge the foreground into darkness.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
162628
label
Subterranean Jail for the Stage
core
obj
dtoType
print
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
162628
contentType
print
title
Subterranean Jail for the Stage
description
Trained as an architect, Abel Schlicht also designed stage sets for the Mannheim National Theater. An important forum for German cultural identity, the theater was one of the first companies to produce exclusively German-language plays, including those by beloved playwright Friedrich Schiller. Prisons were an especially popular drama subject in the 1700s, and sets would have featured in multiple productions. Here, Schlicht employed aquatint to render the gloomy space of one of his prison scenes. This technique enabled the artist to create the range of tones used to illuminate the background and plunge the foreground into darkness.
date
1788
citation
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q79987393
creators
43641
genreSpecific
Print
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Image: 40.9 x 56.6 cm (16 1/8 x 22 5/16 in.); Platemark: 49 x 63 cm (19 5/16 x 24 13/16 in.); Sheet: 54.2 x 71.2 cm (21 5/16 x 28 1/16 in.)
cul
Germany, 18th century
accession
2003.23
Source extras
tec
etching and aquatint
tombstone
Subterranean Jail for the Stage, 1788. Abel Schlicht (German, 1754–1826). Etching and aquatint; image: 40.9 x 56.6 cm (16 1/8 x 22 5/16 in.); platemark: 49 x 63 cm (19 5/16 x 24 13/16 in.); sheet: 54.2 x 71.2 cm (21 5/16 x 28 1/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 2003.23
supportMaterials
description
laid paper
collection
PR - Etching
didYouKnow
Since none of his stage sets survive, Abel Schlicht’s prints serve as records of his lost designs.
catalogueRaisonne
Nagler 16 (?)
creditline
John L. Severance Fund
updatedAt
2026-05-29 08:26:33.795000
sourceId
162628
dept
Prints
coll
PR - Etching
med
etching and aquatint
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
cb81b062938ac82c