John Collier's The Laboratory

[Paul Ferguson]

Inspired by Robert Browning's poem of the same name about the poisoner Madame de Brinvillers, whose lover, Captain Godin de Sainte-Croix, started an alchemy business after being released from the Bastille to allow him to work with poisons, of which he now knew a lot about from his time in prison, by obtaining the necessary license to use certain equipment in order to distill his poisons. It was under his tutelage that the Marquise de Brinvilliers started to experiment with poisons and concoct ideas of revenge.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collier_(painter)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Laboratory

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_de_Brinvilliers