Jerry Tollifson Art Criticism Open 2016
2nd Place, Division 4: Grades 9 through 12
A Philosopher Giving a Lecture at the Orrery by Joseph Wright of Derby
Essay by Kylie Kuhlman
Lima Shawnee High School
Teacher: Brian Krawetzke, Southwest Region
Who are we? Where do we come from? Why does the sun rise and the moon set?
Does the earth revolve around the sun, or the sun around the earth? It was questions such as these
that philosophers in the 1700s asked and when the church couldn’t provide them with the answers they
needed, they began to look elsewhere. Deciding that faith could only get them so far, these enlightened
thinkers turned to a new religion: Reason.
It was 1633 when Galileo Galilei published the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems,
which expanded upon Copernicus’ idea of Heliocentrism, for which Galilei was infamously imprisoned by the
Catholic Church. It wasn’t until 1757 that Pope Benedict XIV revoked the injunction prohibiting heliocentric
works and, even then, the Copernican system remained in implacable controversy. The coexistence we are
familiar with today was not yet established and this battle between heliocentric and geocentric models was
just the beginning of a long fought war between science and faith. The age of Enlightenment was upon them,
and as it so often does, the artwork of this time period reflected that.
Joseph Wright of Derby was a member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, so named for their
monthly meetings where he and and a number of his friends would discuss advancements in areas such as
art, medicine, electricity, chemistry, philosophy, and industry. In Wright’s painting of A Philosopher Giving a
Lecture at the Orrery the central object is an orrery, a mechanical model of the solar system, perhaps illuding
to this group, while friend and fellow Lunar Society member Peter Perez Burdett has been identified as the
man on the left, and the amatuar astronomer Washington Shirley, Earl of Ferrers is thought to be the man on
the right. The central figure’s identity has been highly contested for decades, but the most popular
identification places him as Sir Isaac Newton, a physicist noted for his law of gravitation. Consistent with the
astronomical theme, the chiaroscuro on the faces of those depicted are thought to represent the phases of
the moon. The chiaroscuro also serves as a little barb at organized religion. The lamp takes the place of the
sun, the scientific replaces the natural, and yet the light of revelation still falls upon the faces of an enrapt
audience. Dramatic lighting has long been used in religious conversion, such as Caravagio’s The Calling of
Saint Matthew, but this isn’t a religious scene, it is a scientific one, and this conversion is not to religion, but to
reason. Wright’s use of children is also interesting. This is a life changing moment for them, they are
captivated by the orrery and the symbolism is unambiguous to the patient observer: the Enlightenment will
only grow in the next generation.
I don’t know who we are, or where we come from. All the philosophers and astronomers in the world
couldn’t explain why the sun rose and the moon set, and the heliocentric and geocentric models were
debated for generations to come. The identity of the children in this painting will remain an enigma, and we
will never know if that central figure really is Isaac Newton. This canvas is shrouded in mystery, and there is
only one thing we can know for certain; after this scene, everything changed.
Citations:
"Khan Academy." Khan Academy. Web. 25 Jan. 2016. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/monarchy-enlightenment/britain-18c/britain-ageofrevolution/a/wright-of-derby-a-philosopher-lecturing-on-the-orrery
Kimmelman, Michael. "Review/Art; In Praise of a Neglected Painter of His Time." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Sept. 1990. Web. 25 Jan.
2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/07/arts/review-art-in-praise-of-a-neglected-painter-ofhis-time.html>
“Timeline of Heliocentrism AbsoluteAstronomy.com.” Timeline of Heliocentrism AbsoluteAstronomy.com. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.astronomyfactbook.com/timelines/heliocentrism.htm>