Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight [SEP] collection
Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight
Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight is a 1765 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby and now resides in a private collection in the United Kingdom. It depicts three men examining a reproduction of the Borghese Gladiator, a famous Hellenistic statue discovered in Italy. The painting was one of the first in Wright of Derby's "Candlelight Pictures" series and was originally exhibited in London, gaining much attention. Four years later a mezzotint print of it was made by William Pether.
Composition
of Wright's own later candlelit scenes were by no means as serious as his first ones, as seen from their titles: "Two Boys Fighting Over a Bladder" and "Two Girls Dressing a Kitten by Candlelight". 
The first of his candlelit masterpieces, "Three Persons Viewing the Gladiator by Candlelight", was painted in 1765, and showed three men studying a small copy of the "Borghese Gladiator". "Viewing the Gladiator" was greatly admired; but his next painting, "A Philosopher giving that