"Et cadet ante Aras infelix Victima Virgo" by order of the chapel pew committee / [graphic]

"The interior of the Foundling Hospital Chapel, seen from the east gallery which stretches across the foreground. In this a man seizes the left. arm of a plainly dressed woman by both hands and attempts to eject her trom a pew. She clings to the back of the seat, and holds up an open book: 'Thou shalt do no Murder Lord have Mercy upon as & incline our hearts to ke[ep] this Law'; this obscures the head of her assailant. Behind the man, is wife, flauntingly dressed, hurries into the pew, clenching her fist. In her right. hand is a long stick whose head is composed of the masks of a man and a cat, back to back. She has ringlets with feathers and drapery in her hair. The other three galleries are crowded. Opposite is the organ, flanked by ascending rows of girls (l.) and boys (r.). A sea of heads is in the body of the church, looking up at the brawl."--British Museum online catalogue