The Hypervision documents the temporary exhibition Wright of Derby. Art and science, on display from 6 October 2020 to 24 January 2021 in Room 38 of the Uffizi. The event, made possible by an agreement between the Uffizi Gallery and the National Gallery in London, enables Italian audiences to admire one of the British museum’s undisputed masterpieces, which is seldom loaned. 

In addition to being a milestone in the history of English 18th century painting, An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump painted by Joseph Wright of Derby in 1768 also attracts our attention today with unexpected topicality as we battle with COVID-19, because our responses to scientific research – indifference, awareness, reflection, curiosity or fear – are one of the picture's themes.

In any event, this apparent intruder in our collections (given its limited number of works by English artists) forges further and highly innovative bonds with the Gallerie degli Uffizi and the museums of Florence in the name of history, of art, of nature and ultimately of life itself.

Thus we seem to sense the mysterious content of the glass cup in the middle of the table that is drawing the attention of the older figure depicted in the right foreground. Most observers interpret it as a skull, a traditional memento mori prompting each one us to reflect on our fate and on the fate of the world as we know it.

William Cary
Pneumatic pump with two cylinders

Mahogany, brass, glass
Early 19th century
Florence, Museo Galileo, inv. 1536

In addition to eradicating the concept of the horror vacui — prevalent in ancient philosophical thought until the 16th century — Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647) opened the way to new instruments used for measuring (the barometer) and research (the pneumatic pump). In his wake, in the Medici Accademia del Cimento (1657-1667), the studies carried out on the vacuum evolved into the first global meteorological network and led to experimental analyses of physical and physiological phenomena in airless conditions. The experiments, often cruel, were sometimes vitiated by mercury, which was used extensively to procure the vacuum. For example, Florentine scholars would study whether a butterfly succumbed due to the vacuum or because it had first been immersed in mercury.

The evolution of pneumatic pumps dispelled these doubts. From the mid seventeenth century onwards, as well as Torricelli’s technique of turning a sufficiently tall container full of mercury over in a basin, instruments that created the vacuum with pistons, valves and taps were also introduced.

Wright of Derby’s painting shows a dual-piston brass cylinder pneumatic pump with a strong wooden frame, operated by a rack and pinion system. A rubber tube connects the pump to the separate stand of the glass bell jar, in which the air is gradually rarefied. Due to its poor seal, the vacuum obtainable with these pumps was not comparable to that obtained with Torricelli’s technique; however, it was sufficient for the purpose of performing demonstrations. For example, on the table in the painting, on the right, two “Magdeburg hemispheres” can be seen on the right. An open bottle contains oil to be applied to the surfaces of the hemispheres in contact, or between the bell jar and the stand, to improve its seal. The dark mass in the container where the image of the candle that lightens the scene is reflected is probably the bladder or lung of an animal, both organs used in similar demonstrations.

It is interesting to note that, while inviting the character in the foreground on the left to time the experiment, the experimenter rests the fingers of his raised hand on the tap that seals the bell jar. Without ruining the dramatic tension of the scene, he is about to restore air to the poor bird (a cockatiel, rarely encountered at the time), which is in any case destined for a wretched existence, spent between its cage and the repeated asphyxias generated with the pneumatic pump.

Joseph Wright of Derby

Derby 1734–97

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump

1768

Oil on canvas

London, The National Gallery

Inv. NG 725

The painting depicts a meeting in an English country house. The audience, a mixed bag, is far from expert which is the whole the reason for the presentation, or rather for the highly theatrical performance with its strongly directed light, with the magician's costume worn by the man who can decree the bird's death by simply turning the stopcock and removing the air from the glass bell, and even with the choice of a white parrot rather than the more common canary in order to highlight the contrast between its white plumage and the surrounding darkness.

Instead of using birds, scientists occasionally used a membrane or a bladder, which could make their point just as well by inflating and deflating, but making far less of an impression on the audience, among whom we must of course include the person observing the painting, because the fact that it is almost life-size creates the illusion of a room within a room, thus producing a realistic effect accentuated by the quality of the sharp, meticulous, almost lenticular painting technique.

Aniello Lamberti
news second half of the XVIII century

View of the Specola from Boboli Garden

Eighties of the 18th century.
Engraving
Private collection

The experiment conducted by 17th century Irish chemist Robert Boyle to create a vacuum using an air pump was fairly old news by the time Wright of Derby painted his picture in 1768, but it was certainly still being repeated for educational purposes in a variety of different venues, and indeed much the same was happening in Florence at the time. We know that Leopold of Lorraine, then the Grand Duke of Tuscany, had begun in the 1770s, first in the Pitti Palace for his own children and then before a broader audience in the newly-established Palazzo della Scienza in the Specola, to have similar experiments conducted and general demonstrative workshops organised in order to acquaint people with the more important laws of chemistry and physics then known.

Joseph Wright of Derby 

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump 

Detail

What Wright of Derby's contemporaries admired most about this painting was its handling of light: the night light filtering in through the window, which may allude to the Lunar Society, an association frequented by the painter where scientific matters were debated. Its members were some of the major protagonists of the english Enlightenment that had long been on the road to the industrial revolution; among them Josiah Wedgwood, founder of the homonymous ceramic manufacturer, Matthew Boulton and James Watt, responsible for research on the energy use of steam (and it should be noted that the name of the unit of measurement derives from the latter), and Dr. Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles, theorist of evolution.

Joseph Wright of Derby 

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump  

detail

In Derby's work, above all, the light of a candle hidden behind the glass cup in the centre of the table, which adds such a dramatic chiaroscuro effect to the scene.

The study of lighting, whether natural, artificial or even supernatural, was developed with particular enthusiasm by 17th and 18th centuries painters who were aware of its symbolic value, in that it alluded to knowledge as opposed to the darkness of ignorance, and aware that its skilful handling can imbue an image with a variety of different meanings and tones, ranging from private meditation, suspension and mystery to dry evidence or theatrical emphasis.

In the three Uffizi paintings on display here, light appears to reveal divine truth in the work of Caravaggio follower Bartolomeo Cavarozzi, to reflect an objective educational need for Dutch petit-maître Gerrit Dou, and to facilitate observation of the sculpture in the Academy of Baccio Bandinelli. This latter painting also highlights the practice of dissecting corpses, which was crucial to the furtherance of anatomical science yet was illegal for a long time and was thus carried out at night.

Bartolomeo Cavarozzi

Viterbo c. 1590 – Rome 1625

St. Jerome in his Study with Two Angels

c. 1617

Oil on canvas

Florence, Uffizi Galleries, Palatine Gallery

Inv. Palatina no. 417

In the shadow of the room, an oblique ray of light, coming from the left, illuminates the scene with accomplished accuracy: the two angels are watching and indicating St Jerome, who is extremely focused, intent on writing: the Saint’s head, with light shining on his thin, white hair and his beard, is looking down at the white papers; alongside him, there is a crucifix and a book open at Durer’s Nuremberg engraving of the Virgin with Child. It is likely that Bartolomeo Cavarozzi knew Albrecht Durer’s famous etching because he had kept company with his protector, Giovan Battista Crescenzi, refined “amateur d'estampes”.

The material consistency of the various objects on the woodworm infested table is expressed using luminism, which the artist had studied: an open book and another two closed ones, sporting vellum binding and printed Moroccan leather, the small, shiny metal bucket with sprinkler for holy water, the skull as a memento mori, the hourglass and the rosary. It is an extraordinary still life piece, emblematic of Cavarozzi’s marked tendency to camouflage, recalled by the sources of his time “... he set about painting from nature with great diligence and with the trappings of a great passion...“ and recently reiterated by the most highly esteemed critics, referring to the artist with his hefty portfolio of still lifes. In the composition, characterised by brown, grey and white shades, the bright red colour of St Jerome’s robe stands out as it falls onto the table in vibrant drapes.

Bartolomeo Cavarozzi  

St. Jerome in his Study with Two Angels

detail

The clever luminist layout, obviously inspired by Caravaggio’s work and elegantly filtered by the artist’s familiarity with the work of Orazio Gentileschi, can be symbolically interpreted as a revelation of the divine truth, geared to inspiring St Jerome who, as translator of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Latin, helped spread the Divine Word.

Gerrit Dou

Leyden 1613–75

The Schoolmaster

c. 1660

Oil on panel

Florence, Uffizi Galleries Storage

Inv. 1890 no. 1109

On the right, the crossbar of the stool bears the initials: “GDOV”.

In this small painting, Gerard Dou, Dutch artist and Rembrandt’s pupil, considered the founder of the so-called “Feinmaler” school of excellent painters, offers an extraordinary study of luminism, definitely dictated by the setting and at the same time characterised by obvious symbolical meanings. The subject is a school lesson, held in the evening as was common in 17th century Holland, probably in a bid to keep the children away from danger. In the darkness of the room, lit by a lantern lain on the floor in the foreground on the right and above all by the candle on the desk, the bright light clearly shows the schoolmaster and the pupil, the latter depicted with her mouth slightly open as if reciting the text the schoolmaster is indicating. Behind the girl, two more pupils, only partially illuminated, await their turn, while, in the background, in the shadows, the flame of a candle offers a glimpse of other schoolchildren, busy writing, around a table. The striking draped curtain, which introduces the scene, mellows the domestic tone of the setting, which is furnished very simply with tables and stools. The prevailing light radiating from the candle in the centre, executed by Gerard Dou with his unique exceptional skill for creating luminist effects, also applauded by his peers, can be interpreted as symbolising the light of knowledge that dissolves the darkness.

Gerrit Dou 

Leyden 1613–75

The Schoolmaster

Detail

In this work, Dou again takes up, the composition of the famous painting executed by the artist before 1665 (Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), making a few changes and simplifications. Some aspects of this work, had in turn been modelled on the door of the triptych painted around 1660, lost in the sea but renowned thanks to the copy engraved by Willem Joseph Laqui around the middle of the 18th century.

Enea Vico 

Parma 1523 – Ferrara 1567 

after Baccio Bandinelli

The Academy of Baccio Bandinelli

c. 1560

Burin

Florence, Uffizi Galleries, Department of Prints and Drawings

Inv. 15955 Loose Prints

The scene takes place at night, in an artist’s studio. A space cluttered with sculptures and books, set alongside anatomical elements, skulls and fragments of human skeletons that surround a group of students who are busy drawing. The master, who also devised the subject of the print, appears as the last character on the right, standing up and wearing the same knight’s insignia of the Order of Santiago as those that appear in the shield above the hearth. It is Baccio Bandinelli (1493–1560), decorated by Charles V in 1530 and here portrayed not as a simple executor of works of art but as a teacher with a high social status. And indeed, during the years he had spent in Rome, the sculptor had opened an informal academy in a space of the Belvedere Palace in the Vatican, attended by various pupils.

Artistic production was likened to an activity of the intellect rather than a practical occupation and this engraving, commissioned to Enea Vico, also highlights the importance of studying the human anatomy - Science - and the ancient statues - Art - as essential moves for an artist’s training. Although dissecting corpses was strictly forbidden at the time, this did not always stop artists from doing it. They would do so secretly, usually at night, and this may be why this scene, which also references this practice, is swathed in darkness. But the nocturnal setting also has a less narrative value: it provides a setting where certain details can be highlighted more than others, creating some extremely striking effects by contrasting light (knowledge, scientific observation) with darkness (superstition).

English translation is upcoming

Enea Vico 

after Baccio Bandinelli

The Academy of Baccio Bandinelli

detail

The print is full of references to the cornerstones of Renaissance artistic culture. The figures on the left clearly reference the sculptural portraits executed by Michelangelo in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo for Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours, and Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino. When viewed close-up, the gestures of the pupils focused on their drawings resemble those of some of the characters painted by Raphael in his School of Athens fresco. Finally, a direct reference to Albrecht Dürer’s Melencolia – also evoked in the man with his head in his hands - is recognisable in the dog curled up in the foreground.

Joseph Wright of Derby  

An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump

detail

Respect for animals' suffering, an issue to which we are extremely sensitive today, rarely shines through in the art of the past.

In 17th and 18th century still-lifes, hunted animals are often displayed in ostentatious triumph. It is only in the work of artists such as Giuseppe Maria Crespi, a master in the exploration of his subjects' deepest and most hidden feelings, that we can detect a certain compassion for the lifeless creatures he depicts.

In Joseph Wright of Derby's painting, we can see that the couple on the left are not paying attention to what is going on, but we know that they were friends of the painter who had already witnessed the experiment on previous occasions. The young lad and the man seated at the table on the same side are focusing on the experiment's techical aspects, the man timing the experiment with the clock in his left hand. The gentleman seated on the right is absorbed in thought, while the only onlookers who seem to be concerned for the fate of the unfortunate bird are, not unnaturally, two young girls sheltering in their father's embrace.

Is this true concern for the dignity of every living thing? Is it naive girlish emotion, which we know to have been an object of writers' sarcasm at the time? Or is it mere childish fondness for a pet songbird locked away in its cage, a common feature in homes of the period echoed in this 19th century mantel clock from the Imperial and Royal Apartments in the Pitti Palace?

Giuseppe Maria Crespi 

Bologna 1665 – 1746

Still-life with Game

Before 1713

Oil on canvas

Florence, Uffizi Galleries, storage

Inv.1890 no. 7655

In the dim light of a day coming to an end, the birds lie lifelessly, thrown on to a table, together with an arquebus, a gunpowder flask, and a bag of ammunition. Here the purpose of the work is not decorative. The beholder’s gaze is drawn to the soft, white plumage of the bird depicted in the centre. Perhaps still warm with life, it almost resembles the throat of a helpless victim as it is pulled back and exposed to its executioner.

The brush strokes are rapid, creating the sensation of a substantial textured density, and they are an excellent example of the technical virtuosity lauded in the Baroque age. On the other hand, the painting had been commissioned by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, distinguished collector who, as we are told by Giuseppe Maria Crespi’s biographer, Giovan Pietro Zanotti, only gave the artist one day to paint it.

They were in Livorno for Carnival in 1708. The prince’s esteem for the painter was confirmed and this relationship would go on to generate other masterpieces, still in the collections of the Uffizi Galleries today.

Courvoisier & Comp.e workshop

Mantel clock in the shape of a cage

c. 1820–35

Gilded bronze, enamelled metal, elm burr

Florence, Uffizi Galleries, Royal and Imperial Apartments

Inv. MPP 1911 no. 12602

There are about two hundred clocks in the collections of the Uffizi Galleries, most of which are displayed in the monumental spaces of Palazzo Pitti. Compared to grandfather and wall clocks, the variety known as mantel clocks (because they were effectively placed on the mantels of fireplaces, but also above cupboards, escritoires, sideboards, desks or other pieces of furniture), make an impression due to the artistic appearance of their cases, which enclose or sit above the time measurement mechanisms.

The subjects are wide-ranging: allegorical, naturalistic, mythological, inspired by literary themes. In this case an ingenious frame is proposed, crafted to resemble a bird’s cage and made of finely decorated gilded bronze. Inside it is fitted with a crystal drinking fountain. Sitting on a thin perch, a pair of birds in enamelled metal look as if they are about to break into song, while the chiming system, visible on the base in fine burr elm, enabled one of three musical melodies to be selected and set.