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A Philosopher Giving That Lecture on the Orrery in Which a Lamp Is Put in Place Joseph Wright of Derby, 1764-1766 |
Wright of Derby: From the Shadows, a new exhibition at the National Gallery in London, casts a warm glow on one of Britain's most distinctive 18th-century painters—an artist who took the dramatic chiaroscuro of Caravaggio and turned it toward the modern world.
Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797) may not enjoy the name recognition of the Old Masters he admired, yet his vision was no less daring. While Caravaggio, Rembrandt, and Gerrit van Honthorst used tenebrism for biblical scenes and historical narratives, Wright pointed those same dramatic contrasts of light and darkness at the contemporary world—science lectures, blacksmiths' forges, and moments of intellectual discovery.
The small but carefully curated show focuses on Wright's "candlelight" paintings from 1765 to 1773—the period when he was a young artist trying to make his name in London's competitive exhibition scene. These weren't just technical exercises. Wright captured something essential about his era: the Enlightenment, when knowledge was becoming democratized. Anyone with a ticket could attend a lecture or view art, and Wright's paintings reflected this back to his audience. The curators present his paintings alongside the scientific objects they depict, including an orrery—a mechanical model of the solar system invented in the early 1700s.
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An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump Joseph Wright 'of Derby', 1768 |
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In his masterpiece An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump,
a travelling lecturer demonstrates a well-established experiment to a family
audience whose reactions range from wonder to horror. In The Orrery, his first
painting on a scientific subject, a philosopher presents a lecture on astronomy
using a clockwork model of the solar system as the centerpiece, the sun
replaced by an oil lamp.
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Traditionally, Wright of Derby has been viewed as a figurehead of the Enlightenment. Challenging this conventional view, the exhibition contributes to an ongoing re-evaluation of the artist, portraying him not merely as a "painter of light" but as one who deliberately explores the night-time to engage with deeper and more sombre themes, including death, melancholy, morality, scepticism, and the sublime.
The exhibition runs until 10 May 2026.
