A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery

During the seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe an intellectual movement took place known as the Enlightenment. During this movement enlightenment thinkers, or philosophers, argued that they must focus on the use of reason and secularism to better themselves and understand the universe. As the sciences became more popular, skepticism about religious grew. A significant root of the Enlightenment was the Scientific Revolution (1500-1700) which pressed the use of reasoning, inquiry, and scientific

portraits he painted for middle-class citizens.1 He intricately portrayed scenes of brilliant thinkers in their studies with the atmosphere of his humble hometown. A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery was the second of three