Science and Art in the XVIII Century

The most important English scientific achievement of the XVIII century was the creation of the means preventing smallpox. The author of it was Edward Jenner. The natural smallpox was one of the greatest troubles in the history of mankind. In the areas of epidemics death rate came to 10 % to 15 %. One of three deceased died. The survived had the scars on their faces for the rest of their lives. Many people lost sight and became blind.

During the smallpox epidemics of 1776 the English doctor Edward Jenner was sitting in a coach with the peasant girls and he heard their conversation. One of the girls, who was a milkmaid, proved that she couldn’t catch a human smallpox, as she had been ill with cow smallpox before. Jenner got interested in it and found out that milkmaids often caught cow smallpox. It proceeded easily with people and had no dangerous consequences. After milkmaids never caught human smallpox. Jenner put forward the idea to inoculate cow smallpox to people to prevent human smallpox. But before making experiments it was necessary to check the idea up. For 20 years Jenner inoculated cow smallpox to people and observed, whether they caught a human smallpox or not. In 1796 the decisive experiment was held out. Jenner inoculated a 8-year-old boy James Phipps with cow smallpox. The boy fell ill and recovered easily. Then Jenner infected him with human smallpox. It didn’t develop. The boy didn’t fall ill. The experiment proved the safety of inoculation. Later on grateful Jenner built the house for James Phipps and planted roses himself in the garden of James.

The method of preventing dangerous diseases was discovered. Jenner named the discovered method, having formed a word from Latin “cow”.

First the reaction for his discovery was very aggressive. The “anticow” committees were created. They let out pictures, representing people with horns and hoofs. It meant that people “humiliated” themselves, receiving a material from cows. But the epidemic began in England. People, inoculated with Jenner’s method, survived. Jenner’s enemies had to retreat. Jenner had lived till his discovery was recognized.

The main idea of Jenner was using the weakened microbes. Step by step the principles, put forward by him, began to be used in a struggle against the other diseases. Sometimes Jenner is called the father of immunology. As to smallpox, the last case of it in the world was fixed in 1980. The microbe of smallpox doesn’t exist more. Inoculations against smallpox aren’t done nowadays. It is the only example, when the microbe was destroyed artificially.

Till the XVIII century England had splendid science and literature. As for fine arts and music, they fell behind. Nothing outstanding was done in painting. It was in the XVIII century that the English school of painting appeared. William Hogarth is considered to be father of English painting. He created a new direction of painting, not only for England, but for Europe. It was satirical painting.

Hogarth’s father was a teacher, but at school William was in the end of the progress list. He drew during the classes and didn’t care about his lessons. After school he studied engraving. It allowed to get many copies. The painter engraved and then printed. After his father’s death Hogarth had to care about his mother and two sisters. He painted portraits. But he didn’t like it. Each portrait took much time, but it was unique. And Hogarth “thought out” a new genre – satirical pictures. He expected this kind to become popular and make it possible selling many engraved copies.

Traditionally painters admired life, they were delighted with beauty. Hogarth started laughing at life. He created cycles of several pictures, describing and laughing of nasty sides of everyday life. In “Harlot’s Progress” he shows a miserable fate of the country girl from her coming to town till her funeral ceremony. In “A Rake’s Progress” he shows the life of a merchant’s son, who had wasted all his money on luxurious living and finished his life in Bedlam. In “Gin Lane” the awful effects of drinking are depicted. In “Parliamentary Elections” he shows canvassing (buying the voices) of ill people and madwomen.

His works of satire became extremely popular. Hogarth defined the genre as “useful art”. He thought that the aim of it wasn’t to entertain the public, but to improve life. Usually the development of painting goes after literature, but it was vice versa with Hogarth. He overtook literature. By creating the genre of social satire, he predeceased such English writers of the XIX century as Thackeray and Dickens. Besides, he is believed to be the founder of Western Sequential art, with its two main genres – comics and cartoon.

And it was Hogarth’s picture “The Shrimp Girl” which has become the visiting card of the English painting. It wasn’t in satiric genre. It is an unfinished oil sketch, the portrait. The painting is almost “transparent”. That’s why Hogarth is often called the forerunner of impressionism.

For modern onlooker it’s thrilling to watch his engraving “Satire on False Perspective” – an example of graphic absurdity.

Thomas Gainsborough was an outstanding master of portraits. He had shown the talent for drawing since his very young years. But he was of a rather poor family with many children, and his parents weren’t going to educate him. It was an occurrence which helped the situation. Once Thomas was sketching in his father’s orchard. Suddenly a face appeared above the stone wall and for a single moment studied the situation. The boy caught the features on his palette, and transferred them to his picture. The likeness was so perfect that it led to catching the thief who had been robbing peas in the neighbours’. The orchard episode pleased the family of Gainsboroughs. A family council decided that Thomas must be sent to London to study art.