Description
Captures the complicated attitude towards science during the Enlightenment. A man is suffocating a bird in an air pump, while (most of) his audience looks on in wonder and fear. Shows that scientific demonstrations could attract a considerable audience, but also that the audience could feel ambivalent about the ethics of what they were witnessing.
Creator
Wright, Joseph
Publisher
1768, oil on canvas, National Gallery, London, UK.
Contributor
Roberts, Meghan
Language
N/A
Type
Painting