A Philosopher Shewing an Experiment on the Air Pump
Medium
Mezzotint; first state of two (Chaloner Smith); second state of three (Whitman)
Dimensions
Plate: 19 × 23 in. (48.3 × 58.4 cm) Sheet: 19 7/8 × 25 5/8 in. (50.5 × 65.1 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.95.14
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About the Artist
Valentine Green|Joseph Wright (Wright of Derby) · 1739–1813
**Valentine Green (1739–1813)** was a leading British mezzotint engraver and print publisher whose work helped elevate the medium’s status in 18th-century Britain. Born on 3 October 1739 in Salford Priors near Evesham, Warwickshire, he initially trained for the law but abandoned it after two years in a solicitor’s office. He then studied line engraving under Robert Hancock in Worcester before movi...