Joseph Wright

Joseph Wright of Derby painted light in the dark. His best known pictures are lit by a single candle or lamp, with faces glowing out of deep shadow as people watch a scientific demonstration or an experiment. He was the first painter to capture the spirit of the Industrial Revolution and the excitement of science.

He was born in Derby and trained in London with the portrait painter Thomas Hudson. His An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump (1768) is in the National Gallery in London and A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery is in Derby Museum. He was friendly with Erasmus Darwin and others of the Lunar Society. A trip to Italy in 1773 to 1775 gave him new subjects, especially Vesuvius erupting and fireworks over Rome.

His Eruption of Vesuvius and Firework Display at the Castel Sant’Angelo show the same fascination with dramatic light, now on a grand scale.