Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 3 (of 3)Ireland, John
General
Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 3 (of 3)
Ireland, John
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764
In this the artist is represented at his easel, with _Lomazzo_ in
his pocket, and with a satyr's feet (one of which rests on some
copies of his _Analysis_), and painting the picture of "Pharaoh's
Daughter." He is accompanied by a fat and a lean connoisseur; the
former shows evident marks of admiration, but the latter holds the
_Analysis_ in his left hand, and appears rather puzzled. A figure
in the background, who, to show that he is a judge, is arrayed in
a gown, a band, and ample periwig, shows evident marks of disgust.
Three naked and most filthy female figures, one of them fat as was
Bright of Malden, and another tall and thin as a splinter of the
Monument, are intended to represent "Pugg's graceless Graces." One of
these _beauties_ rests her foot on a box inscribed, "For the March
presented to the Foundling Hospital, with a gilded frame for the
admiration of the public." The other is seated on a chest of drawers,
on which are written under the word FOLLY, "Bid for by Pugg's
friends, £50, £100, £120." This most pointed piece of wit evidently
alludes to the auction of "Marriage à la Mode," which has been
already noticed. On the upper part of the print is a head, entitled
"A modern cherubin," with a bag-wig on, and a stick bent into a
waving line in his mouth, a satyr holding a medallion, on which is a
head with a cap and bells, and many other curious allusions to the
serpentine line. On the floor are a pair of stays, a pair of boots,
a pair of candlesticks, etc. etc., allusive to the prints to the
_Analysis_. Beneath is a grotesque figure of a devil, with a little
incubus, masks, etc., holding in his hand a piece of paper, which
seems a leaf of the book, and is inscribed, "To be continued."
A. C. _Invt. et Sculp._--Published according to Act of Parliament,
1753-4.
On the back of this delicate satire is printed the following
address:--
"TO THE PUBLIC.
"I propose to publish by subscription an _Analysis of the Sun_,
in which I will show the constituent parts of which it is
composed, and of which it ought to have been composed.
"I will compute exactly its magnitude and quantity of matter,
both as it is, and as it ought to have been constructed.
"As to the supposed motion of the sun or earth, I shall prove
that Ptolemy and Copernicus were neither of them right in any
part of their conjectures; and that consequently Kepler, Des
Cartes, Cassini, Leibnitz, and Sir Isaac Newton are absolutely
wrong.
"I will likewise refute that vulgar error, that the sun, with
respect to our earth, is the cause of light and heat; and I will
show how they are caused.
"I will prove that the figure of our earth is an inverted ∽. And
lastly, I will demonstrate that their systems show nothing of my
line of beauty.
"This work will be printed on a new invented fool's-cap paper, at
half a guinea to subscribers; but to those who do not subscribe,
it will be fifteen shillings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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