Art Institute of Chicago
A Philosopher Shewing an Experiment on the Air Pump
Valentine Green (English, 1739-1813)
- Date
- 1769
- Medium
- Mezzotint with traces of engraving in black on ivory laid paper
- Culture
- England
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
The consummate mezzotint engraver Valentine Green created this iconic image a year after the Enlightenment-era painter Joseph Wright of Derby completed the original painting (National Gallery, London). Green’s limpid moonlit effects and riveting velvet-black ink aptly render this nocturnal scientific demonstration as a matter of life or death: the bird in the glass sphere begins to suffocate as air is pumped out of the chamber, leaving the breathless viewers uncertain of its ultimate fate.
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Linked open data
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- Object type
- AAT300041273
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