Joseph Wright

"The painting, as described by the National Gallery in London, depicts a traveling scientist who demonstrates the formation of a vacuum, a lesson provided at the expense of a cockatoo. The bird lays in a glass globe at the top of the painting as the scientist withdraws air from the globe using an air pump. And if the sight of a bird on the brink of death is not enough to generate a response from onlookers, a bowl containing a skull glows in the candlelight that illuminates the scene.The demonstration, conducted before a group of men, women, and children, inspires a gamut of reactions from fear to disinterest, as shown in the eyes of the onlookers"."Shedding a Light on 18th Century Science:The Works of Joseph Wright of Derby". Web 15 Nov. 2009. <http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0706/byko-0706.html>

The dramatic lighting used in this piece was derived from Caravaggio

Joseph Wright trained formally with Thomas Hudson at the age of 17 in London. <http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0706/byko-0706.html>

Once Wright returned from the Grand Tour, he began painting local society from the Industrial Revolution

Including Wedgwood

1773-1775