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Topics

Sciences

  • Summary
An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
Image credit: The National Gallery, London

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump

Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)

The National Gallery, London

Western science began in ancient Greece as a branch of philosophy, but modern science originated in alchemy, the fruitless search for ways to turn base metal into gold. Numerous Dutch and Flemish seventeenth-century paintings mock these activities, but Holland was still a home of modern science and Britain’s Royal Society was founded in 1660. Science became more rational and based on experiments, dramatised in Joseph Wright of Derby’s well-known An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump of 1768.


Read more

Inventors and scientists are well represented in portrait galleries and the collections of universities and professional institutions. The Arts and the Sciences are also frequently depicted as contrasting symbolic figures, representing two approaches to acquiring knowledge.

Artworks

  • An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump
    An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797)
    The National Gallery, London
  • Pandora's Box
    Pandora's Box Brian Yale (1936–2009)
    Wolverhampton Art Gallery
  • Science is Measurement
    Science is Measurement Henry Stacy Marks (1829–1898)
    Royal Academy of Arts
  • Computer Room Suite, Part 3
    Computer Room Suite, Part 3 Gordon Faulds (b.1957)
    The Open University
  • Heron with Mallard and Birds
    Heron with Mallard and Birds unknown artist
    Strangers' Hall
  • Henry Baines (1793–1878), Botanist of York
    Henry Baines (1793–1878), Botanist of York Thomas Joseph Banks (1828–1896)
    York Art Gallery
  • Omai (c.1753–c.1776/1777), Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820), and Dr Daniel Solander (1736–1782)
    Omai (c.1753–c.1776/1777), Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820), and Dr Daniel Solander (1736–1782) William Parry (1742–1791)
    Captain Cook Memorial Museum
  • 223 more

Stories

  • Sunset and Afterglow, Krakatoa, 9 November 1883
    Art Matters podcast: art in the Science Museum

    Ferren Gipson

  • Untitled (Mescaline drawing)
    Drawing on drugs: Henri Michaux's mescaline drawings

    Eliza Goodpasture

  • Beatrix Potter's other life: the mushroom fanatic

    Meaghan Steeves

  • Neuroaesthetics and the brain chemistry of drawing

    Patrick Downing

  • Annette in her studio, 2021
    Seven questions with Annette Marie Townsend

    Steph Roberts

  • Art in science, science in art: the Whipple Museum collection

    Guey-Mei Hsu

  • Denise Dutton in her studio
    The sculptor bringing Dorset palaeontologist Mary Anning to life

    Gemma Briggs

  • Still from 'Ammonite'
    Mary Anning: a pioneer of fossil discovery

    Lydia Figes

  • Portraits of Stephen Hawking: a visual biography

    Scott Jordan Harris

  • Ghost Faces
    Artificial Intelligence: the new artistic revolution?

    Ben Selig

  • Marguerite Milward sculpts the bust of 'Singaru'
    Marguerite Milward: an anthropological approach to sculpture

    P. L. Henderson

  • The night sky in art

    Jade King

  • Angela Palmer with 'Tower of Time'
    Deep time: new sculpture by Angela Palmer

    Angela Palmer

  • Twenty Years With Eldfell
    Ilana Halperin: unearthing intimate connections

    Susan Mansfield

  • Joseph Wright of Derby: the everyday, the epic and the Enlightenment

    John Bonehill

  • Star of the show: Nasmyth's solar spots

    Katy Barrett

  • Visual sound: mysteries of the human voice revealed by Megan Watts Hughes

    Christopher Parry

  • Drawing blood: three ways of looking at medical illustrations

    Richard Barnett

  • Gotta catch 'em all! Art and the zoo

    Jade King

  • Celebrating 500 years of polymathy in Britain

    Waqās Ahmed

  • Lady Mary Montagu: unsung pioneer of vaccination

    Alev Scott

  • Illustration from 'Toshin seiyo' ('The essentials of smallpox')
    The smallpox vaccine, Edward Jenner and a cow called Blossom

    Jade King

  • Art Matters podcast: the Pre-Raphaelites’ relationship with science

    Ferren Gipson

Learning resources

  • ACC_ACC_AC_1092-001.jpg
    Round-up
    Climate change and the environment resources
    • KS2 (ENG)
      KS2 (NI)
      CfE L2 (SCO)
      PS3 (WAL)
      KS3 (ENG)
      KS4 (ENG)
      KS3 (NI)
      KS4 (NI)
      CfE L4 (SCO)
      CfE L3 (SCO)
      KS3 (WAL)
      KS4 (WAL)

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® is a registered trade mark of the Public Catalogue Foundation.
Art UK is the operating name of the Public Catalogue Foundation, a charity registered in England and Wales (1096185) and Scotland (SC048601).