Joseph Wright of Derby was born in the town of Derby, which is located in central England. He spent the majority of his career working out side of London. Throughout his lifetime he was always known as and called Joseph Wright of Derby because of another artists that had the same name as him. One thing Wright was known for was how he incorporated tenebrism into his painting, which is known as contracts between light and dark. His painting, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, demonstrates the formation of a vacuum. This is done by withdrawing air from a flask containing a white cockatoo. Usually common birds like sparrows would have been used for this experiment. Overall this pictures displays a lot of darkness, the only light that is shown in the room is a single candle that is lit and a moon that is displayed through the window. The figures in this pictures display worry across their faces because the bird is being deprived from oxygen and might die. One girl shows a substantial…show more content… Enlightenment was a period that had an intense interest in science and reason. Artists, such as Wright, helped spread the printed image and inspired others to think realistically about the world we now lived in. Wright became the unofficial artist of the Enlightenment, because of how he depicted his scientists and philosophers. Wright painting participated in the Enlightenment discourse because it depicts an image of a natural philosopher recreating an air pump experiment. This picture enhances the profile of the philosopher that is creating the vacuum by incorporating him into the middle of the painting. By recreating this scientific experiment into a piece of artwork it is considered and enlightenment piece. Another thing that makes it fit into this category is the subjects he uses throughout his painting. In this painting he uses an air pump and a flask, which are both used in the scientific