Light and Darkness: Analysing Wright's Enlightenment

Joseph Wright, in Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump, says that when faced with the envelope of comforting darkness in the doors behind us and the light of the unknown in front, we should be wary of what we choose to do: whether it be continuing towards the light or remaining where it is dark. The Age of Enlightenment brought about drastic changes that revolutionized people’s way of life. As the name suggests, this period was seen as a phase in which mankind transitioned from the shadows of the dark ages into the light of the future. This transition, for the most part, was accomplished through the development of science and new ideas. Wright depicts this enlightenment by literally creating light. The light in Wright’s piece is not merely there so the audience

He implements several references to light, from refraction to reflection to distortion, he makes it clear that his light has meaning. He defines the light by placing the strongest source in the center, precisely where the experiment is taking place. Once he has connected his “illumination” with a scientific experiment, it doesn’t take the audience a huge leap of faith to assume that the light symbolizes, or at least has some connection to, the progress of science. This is further exemplified by the fact that behind the characters stands an open door that seemingly contains only darkness. Wright has the characters move from a dark room into one lit up by a scientific experiment similar to how mankind, roughly during the time of this painting, shifted from the dark ages into the age of enlightenment. The situation in the scene is a rather