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Christian Gottlob Winterschmidt

Quodlibet with Goldfinch

late 18th century
Etching in black hand-colored with brush and watercolor on ivory laid paper
26.1 × 20.6 cm (10.3 × 8.1 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This illusionistic, hand-colored German etching presents several of the most popular and ephemeral printmaking products—genre pictures, maps, playing cards, religious texts, and wall calendars—tacked to a wall with paste or daubs of wax. Prints mounted in this manner were used for decorating, devotion, entertainment, or study, and the practice is depicted in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century paintings of the interiors of taverns and private homes. Renaissance viewers even used them on ceilings, furniture, or more portable supports such as boards, boxes, and fabric. This late-eighteenth-century work suggests that the practice continued long after.

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