The Air Pump by Joseph Wright (1734-1797). This artwork was painted in 1768. Its full title is 'An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump' and is the second of the series of 'candlelight' compositions that established Wright's name. It depicts a public demonstration of the effects of a vacuum created by an air pump using a live bird (top centre). The vacuum suffocates the bird and leads to a painful death, and a distressed female spectator can be seen (right). 'The Air Pump' was influenced by meetings between Wright and his friends, when they demonstrated experiments and discussed the latest scientific developments.