An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768)
Joseph Wright of Derby
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump – detail
(view zoomed image at the National Gallery of London)
Wouldn’t it be excellent if science was still conducted in darkened, intimate chambers lit by candles, as in these wonderful paintings – part of a series of posts on chiaroscuro at { feuilleton }?
Sure, you could get the same dramatic effect by holding lab meeting huddled over a UV transilluminator – but oh, the inconvenient mutagenesis.
This is one of my favourite paintings in the entire history of art!
During my short time as a science teacher, I remember reading an article, in an educational journal called the journalSchool Science Review, about using art to teach various aspects of science.
This painting was mentioned as a stimulus for a discussion about the ethics of animal experiments. While the young man on the left looks on in fascination, the young lady to the right holds her head in her hands because she can’t bear to watch the bird suffocating.