The age of Enlightenment is most closely associated with scientists and inventors, but writers and artists also played major roles. They helped spread enlightenment concepts via the written word and printed image, and inspired others to think rationally about the world in which they lived.
This portrait of a Cherokee man was painted during a peace delegation from the Indigenous nation to meet the King of England
Wedgwood created wares in his Stoke factories for both the masses and the aristocracy, whilst using his designs to support the most morally charged cause of his day – the abolition of slavery.
This vase is made of jasper, a type of unglazed stoneware that can be stained with color before firing, which was perfected by Josiah Wedgwood by 1775 after a number of experiments.
In picturing Sarah Siddons as the Muse of Tragedy, Sir Joshua Reynolds helped make an argument for women’s equal standing with that of men within the acting profession.