An experiment on a bird in the air pump by Joseph Wright
“An experiment on a bird in the air pump” was oil painted by Joseph Wright; He was best known for his paintings of industrial scenes, and for his dramatic use of lighting famously known as furnace light and candlelight. This artwork (completed in 1768) is also one of his artwork expressing one of the days in the industrial revolution. However here in this artwork, he has depicted a scene of a traveling scientist demonstrating an experiment which proves suffocation. As the art work expresses, a scientist which faces towards us is showing the audience how the bird will react when the air surrounding is pumped out. The equipment used is clearly an air pump as we see, and its air in the glass bulb containing a bird as well, has been sucked out by the vacuum. The air pump was invented in 1650 which is roughly a century before this artwork was completed, and was first used on animals a decade later by English scientists who investigated the effects of “impeded respiration” on larks, sparrows, mice, kittens and a number of other small creatures. The artwork shows the image of how the pumps were used, and records the history of how science was like back then. Wright has used the drama of the demonstration to show the impact of the experiment on ordinary people. As we see in this painting, each shows differing emotions and facial expression which exemplifies the reaction of the experiment. We can see a young man holding a watch, which as we assume, he is timing the experiment. Perhaps he is timing the bird’s convulsions and ultimate death, or maybe he is responsible for indicating to the lecturer the exact moment to readmit air into the receiver. On his left, a young boy is sat while watching with genuine curiosity. A young couple behind stares at one another, and we could sense that they are completely in love and contains no interest in the experiment. Looking at the couple, we could tell that back in the days, young love wasn’t quite accepted yet and that only when