A painting by Joseph Wright (1734-1797), also known as Wright of Derby. Dramatic contrasts of light and shade were a source of fascination to Wright and in this imagined night scene he was able to compare the differing effects of the natural and artificial light-sources in the night sky. He was scientifically able to contrast the hazy beam of the lighthouse with the luminosity of the moonlight. It is evident from the colours in this painting that Wright had practical knowledge of vision of the eyes at low light levels. He had anticipated what became known as dark adaptation of the eyes - scotopic vision, and also what is now called the 'Purkinje Shift', where the peak sensitivity of the eye shifts towards the blue end of the colour spectrum, scotopic as opposed to photopic vision.