A Philosopher Giving a Lecture on the Orrery

1768

William Pether after Joseph Wright

Associated Names
William Pether

Artist, British, 1739 - 1821

Joseph Wright

Artist After, British, 1734 - 1797

This print shows a group of people around a large orrery: an intricate mechanical model of the solar system with curving strips of metal creating a dome. Eight people are depicted around the orrery on a table, including four men, three children, and one woman. One man stands in the center, directly behind the orrery, one hand in his pocket. He has white hair and wrinkled skin, and he is looking to the left, towards a man with dark hair who is writing in a notebook. Two children stand between these men, leaning on the orrery and looking into the center, their faces peeking through the metallic rings. On the bottom left, a woman sits looking at the orrery, wearing a long hat and a dark cloak over a dress, with strings of pearls around her neck. On the right, two other men stand by the orrery, partially in shadow. One man looks at the model while the other looks up, towards the standing man in the center. In front of the orrery, the third child is leaning against the model with their back to us, silhouetted against the light that seems to emanate from the orrery. The scene is set in a dimly lit room with a bookcase in the background and draped cloth hanging near the top right corner.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    mezzotint on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Paul Mellon Fund

  • Dimensions

    plate: 44.6 x 58.1 cm (17 9/16 x 22 7/8 in.)
    sheet: 49.1 x 59.4 cm (19 5/16 x 23 3/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2001.96.12

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Smith 1884, no. 48, State ii/iii


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Christopher Lennox-Boyd; (C. G. Boerner Limited, New York); purchased 2001 by NGA.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1990

  • Joseph Wright of Derby: 1734 - 1797, Tate Gallery, London, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, no. 1.

2004

  • Six Centuries of Prints and Drawings: Recent Acquisitions, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2004 - 2005

2022

  • Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, 2022-2023, p. 149, fig. 3, repro.

Bibliography

1884

  • Smith, John Chaloner. British mezzotinto portraits, being a descriptive catalogue of these engravings from the introduction of the art to the early part of the present century. 4 vols. London: Henry Sotheran and Co., 1884.

1926

  • Russell, Charles Edward. English Mezzotint Portraits and Their States. 2 vols. London: Halton and Truscott Smith, Ltd., 1926.

1990

  • Clayton, Tim. "Catalogue of Engraved Works," in Wright of Derby. London, 1990: 231-258.

2001

  • C. G. Boerner Ltd. Mezzotints from the Collection of Christopher Lennox-Boyd. London, 2001: no. 16.

2022

  • Kopp, Édouard, Rudy, Elizabeth, and Smentek, Kristel, editors.Dare to Know: Prints and Drawings in the Age of Enlightenment. Exh. cat. Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 2022-2023: 149, fig. 3.

Inscriptions

lower left in plate: Josh. Wright Pinxt.; lower center in plate: J Boydell Exct.; lower right in plate: Wm. Pether fecit 1768;by later hand, verso in graphite: lr. exhibited Tate 1990 no. 1 / p44130; by later hand, lower center verso in graphite: 731

Wikidata ID

Q76360011

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