A coffin is carried down the stairs of a gothic church by a procession of monks, lit by the light of the full moon and the flames of the torches that some of the monks carry. They walk toward an open crypt in the foreground. The light from the crypt illuminates the monument on the wall opposite (a knight in armor) as well as two monks kneeling at the opening of the crypt and a third monk holding a thurible. A man with a red cloak stands in the shadows on the left, looking down at the scene at the crypt. The image is intended to be backlit. The light sources in the image -- the moon, the glow shining out of the gothic crypt, and the torch-bearing friars -- are enhanced when the image is held up to a light
Description:
Title and approximate date of production from dealer's description., Unsigned; artist unidentified., Drawn in the style of the painter and etcher Franz Joseph Manskirch (1768-1840), who worked in London between 1793 and 1819., and On paper watermarked "J. Whatman Turkey Mill".
Subject (Topic):
Churches, Funeral processions, Incense, Monks, Moonlight, Pointed arches, and Torches
"A man on horseback in a street with his arms around two women, one of whom is crying at right, an old lady sat in profile in the foreground holding a bunch of flowers and a dog drinking from a fountain behind, a man watching the farewell with crossed arms at left, a church building behind a high wall before which a carriage is waiting behind; circular design, after Henry William Bunbury."--British Museum online catalogue
Description:
Title from text on later state., Artist and printmaker from text on later state: H. Bunbury Esqr. delint. ; engraved by T. Watson., Early state, before any lettering. For the final lettered state, published 28 May 1781 by Watson & Dickinson, see British Museum online catalogue, registration no.: 1872,0511.128., Sheet trimmed within plate mark., and Mounted on page 23 of: Bunbury album.