{"secondaryobjectnumber":null,"periodterms":[],"creditline":"Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund","caption":"Valentine Green (1739–1813; born Salford, England; died London, England), after Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797; born and died Derby, United Kingdom), A Philosopher Shewing an Experiment on the Air Pump, 1769. Mezzotint; 48.4 × 58.7 cm (plate), 44.8 × 58.7 cm (sheet), 70.5 × 80.5 × 2.3 cm (frame). Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund (2012-54)","cultureterms":[{"id":2031586,"culture":"British"},{"id":2031563,"culture":"European"}],"type":"artobject","dimensionsproposed":"","campus_art":false,"terms":[{"id":2054545,"term":"mezzotints","aatid":300041356,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2088270,"term":"men","aatid":300025928,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2055657,"term":"figures (representations)","aatid":300189808,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2048431,"term":"proofs (derivative objects)","aatid":300121297,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2031586,"term":"British","aatid":300111159,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2158039,"term":"birds","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088280,"term":"women","aatid":300025943,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2054256,"term":"prints","aatid":300041273,"termtype":"Classification"},{"id":2171650,"term":"moons","aatid":null,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2031563,"term":"European","aatid":300020656,"termtype":"Culture"},{"id":2088151,"term":"children (people by age group)","aatid":300025945,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2135437,"term":"deaths","aatid":300151836,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2090680,"term":"philosophers","aatid":300025569,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2091556,"term":"scientists","aatid":300025788,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2088264,"term":"girls","aatid":300247581,"termtype":"Subject"},{"id":2154948,"term":"mezzotint","aatid":300053233,"termtype":"Techniques"}],"geography":[{"displaygeography":"Place made: Europe, England, London","code":"Place made","continent":"Europe","subcontinent":null,"country":"England","region":null,"state":null,"city":"London","county":null,"subregion":null,"locale":null,"locus":null,"river":null,"excavation":null,"geoname":"http://www.geonames.org/2643743/london.html","location":{"lat":"51.50853","lon":"-0.12574"}}],"dimensionelements":[{"element":"frame","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"70.50"},{"element":"frame","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"80.50"},{"element":"frame","type":"Depth","units":"centimeters","dimension":"2.30"},{"element":"sheet","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"44.80"},{"element":"sheet","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"58.70"},{"element":"plate","type":"Height","units":"centimeters","dimension":"48.40"},{"element":"plate","type":"Width","units":"centimeters","dimension":"58.70"}],"markings":null,"accessionyear":"2012-01-01","newaccession":0,"makers":[{"id":832,"displayname":"Joseph Wright of Derby","displaydate":"1734–1797; born and died Derby, United Kingdom","datebegin":1734,"dateend":1797,"prefix":"after","suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"after Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734–1797; born and died Derby, United Kingdom","displayorder":2},{"id":4950,"displayname":"Valentine Green","displaydate":"1739–1813; born Salford, England; died London, England","datebegin":1739,"dateend":1813,"prefix":null,"suffix":null,"role":"Artist","displaymaker":"Valentine Green, 1739–1813; born Salford, England; died London, England","displayorder":1}],"datecomputed":1769,"signed":null,"restrictions":null,"classification":"Prints","packages":[{"packageid":207234,"name":"SAB_Gala2021"},{"packageid":267678,"name":"Web_CA_2025_P&D"},{"packageid":30294,"name":"web_GlobalHistory_2015"},{"packageid":224153,"name":"2023_ART209_04_19"},{"packageid":267774,"name":"Web_CA_2025_P&D [2]"},{"packageid":220938,"name":"web_2000-2022printacquisitions"},{"packageid":182980,"name":"x-COMPLETE-P&D_British_prints"},{"packageid":53649,"name":"web_2015-10_GlobalHistory"},{"packageid":159960,"name":"web_2019_K2 Corridor_March"},{"packageid":27815,"name":"Web_K2_Night Prints_2014_10"}],"catalograisonne":"Chaloner Smith 163","classifications":[{"id":2054545,"classification":"mezzotints"},{"id":2054256,"classification":"prints"},{"id":2048431,"classification":"proofs (derivative objects)"}],"exhibitions":[],"cultures":[],"primaryimage":["https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/TC2012-3"],"displaytitle":"A Philosopher Shewing an Experiment on the Air Pump","displayculture":null,"displaymaker":"Valentine Green, 1739–1813; born Salford, England; died London, England | after Joseph Wright of Derby, 1734–1797; born and died Derby, United Kingdom","alt_numbers":[],"captionhtml":"Valentine Green (1739–1813; born Salford, England; died London, England), after Joseph Wright of Derby (1734–1797; born and died Derby, United Kingdom), <i>A Philosopher Shewing an Experiment on the Air Pump</i>, 1769. Mezzotint; 48.4 × 58.7 cm (plate), 44.8 × 58.7 cm (sheet), 70.5 × 80.5 × 2.3 cm (frame). Museum purchase, Fowler McCormick, Class of 1921, Fund (2012-54)","displaydate":"1769","medium":"Mezzotint","media":[{"id":70617,"uri":"https://media.artmuseum.princeton.edu/iiif/3/collection/TC2012-3","isprimary":1,"rank":1,"mediatypeid":1,"mediaviewtype":"(not assigned)","restrictions":null,"caption":"PUAM photo"}],"displayperiod":null,"extended_content":true,"campuscollections":"false","bibliography":[{"boilertext":"John Chaloner Smith,<EM> British mezzotinto portraits; being a descriptive catalogue of these engravings from the introduction of the art to the early part of the present century</EM> (London: H. Sotheran &amp; Co., 1883).","citation":"John Chaloner Smith,<EM> British mezzotinto portraits; being a descriptive catalogue of these engravings from the introduction of the art to the early part of the present century</EM> (London: H. Sotheran &amp; Co., 1883)., no. 163","date":1883,"id":6260,"uri":"https://search.worldcat.org/title/40485920"},{"boilertext":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2012,\"&nbsp;<em>Record of the Princeton University Art Museum</em> 71/72 (2012-13): p. 105-132.","citation":"\"Acquisitions of the Princeton University Art Museum 2012,\"&nbsp;<em>Record of the Princeton University Art Museum</em> 71/72 (2012-13): p. 105-132., p. 131","date":2012,"id":2988,"uri":"https://www.jstor.org/stable/24416388"}],"nowebuse":"False","periods":[],"department":"Prints and Drawings","attribute_groups":[{"id":2199327,"term":"Prints and Drawings","termtype":"Collecting Area"},{"id":2199321,"term":"European Art","termtype":"Collecting Area"}],"daterange":"A.D. 1700-1800","dateend":1769,"depicted":[],"titles":[{"title":"A Philosopher Shewing an Experiment on the Air Pump","titletype":"Primary Title","displayorder":1}],"hasimage":"true","creditlinerepro":null,"objectnumber":"2012-54","inscribed":"Printed below plate, from left to right: Jos. Wright Pinxit, 1768. / J. Boydell, execudit. / Val. Green fecit, [illegible] 1769. \r\n\r\nIn pen and brown ink on verso, lower left: No 21 \r\n\r\nIn graphite on verso, lower left: 2.ps. / No. 33 44//1150","texts":[{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Gallery Label","textentryhtml":"Wright of Derby relied on the talents of mezzotinters such as Valentine Green to promote his paintings soon after they were exhibited. This virtuoso print effectively transmits Wright’s mastery of natural and artificial light effects in one of his most celebrated “candlelight pictures,” now known as <em>An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump</em> (1768; National Gallery, London). The nocturnal scene depicts a traveling lecturer demonstrating to a rapt audience the potentially lethal effects of creating a vacuum in an air pump containing a bird. Pulled before the painting’s original title was inscribed in the plate below the image, this rare trial proof bears the names of the painter, the publisher (John Boydell), and the printmaker.","remarks":"K2 corridor: “The Artful Disposition of Shades”: The Great Age of British Mezzotints"}],"datebegin":1769,"sortnumber":"2012   54","published_date":"2026-04-14 02:00:58.896352","objectid":64679,"dimensions":"plate: 48.4 × 58.7 cm (19 1/16 × 23 1/8 in.)\r\nsheet: 44.8 × 58.7 cm (17 5/8 × 23 1/8 in.)\r\nframe: 70.5 × 80.5 × 2.3 cm (27 3/4 × 31 11/16 × 7/8 in.)","on_view":false}