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During William Henry Fox Talbot’s life time he used the Blue Parlour as his library. The painting depicts the installation within the
Blue Parlour, curated by the National Trust in 2017 to commemorate the work of Fox Talbot and his scientific discoveries in
photography and his general interest in science, especially in the field of light and the charting of the ferment.
He was a prominent mathematician and astronomer and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
Although the earliest photograph was taken by Joseph Niepce in1826, Fox Talbot was responsible for inventing the negative -positive
process which paved the way for the development of modern photography.
The light source within the room setting conveys the sense of sunlight with its resultant casting of lighted surfaces and deep shade over
the assembly of a map of the world, books, model of the universe, apparatus, telescope and specimen bird egg, thereby acting as a
common integrating component of the composition.
A single directional light source reinforces the idea of the effect of light and perspective of the room.
Through Fox Tabot, Lacock had become a place for the exploration of science in order to gain answers and hence knowledge, this was
a contrast to the fact that Lacock was at one time an established nunnery for Augustinian Canonesses founded on faith.
The nunnery was built by Ela the Countess of Salisbury on her land in 1229 in memory of her husband William Longespee and was
dedicated on the 16th of April 1232, with building work continuing until 1247.
The painting makes a connection between man’s search for concrete answers to the mystery held within creation and contrasting with
assumptions held by ideologies and faiths; philosophy attempts to bridge these poles in understanding.