"Satire on the "bad taste of the town" (as described by Hogarth, Daily Courant, 24.ii.1724); a composite street scene with a theatre on either side and an "Academy of Arts" (Lord Burlington's recently remodelled house in Piccadilly) beyond; on the left, a fool and a devil are leading a crowd of masqueraders into the Opera House in the Haymarket from which hang a banner advertising an opera (based on British Museum satire no. 1768 with the singers Cuzzoni, Senesino and Berenstadt) and a sign for "Dr. Faux's [Isaac Fawkes] Dexterity of Hand", the impressario John James Heidegger leans from an upper window; on the right, a crowd is flocking to see the pantomime "Dr Faustus"; in the centre, a woman pushes a wheelbarrow of waste paper including volumes of Congreve, Dryden, Ottway, Shakespeare, Addison, and Ben John[son]; the gate of the Academy beyond is topped with statues of Michelangelo, Raphael and William Kent, admired by three gentlemen."--British Museum online catalogue
Alternative Title:
Bad taste of the town
Description:
Titles, state, and date from Paulson., "Price 1 shilling"--Before date, centered on lower edge., Two columns of four lines of verse engraved below image: Could new dumb Faustus, to reform the age, Conjure up Shakespear's or Ben Johnson's ghost, they'd blush for shame, to see the English stage Debauch'd by fool'ries, at so great a cost. What would their Manes say? should they behold Monsters and masquerades, where usefull plays Adorn'd the fruitfull theatre of old, And rival wits contended for the bays., Sheet trimmed to plate mark., and Plate with text lacking; top plate with image only. Sheet 13.4 x 18.2 cm.
Publisher:
Wm. Hogarth
Subject (Name):
Heidegger, John James, 1659?-1748., Senesino, -1759?,, Kent, William, 1685-1748, Cuzzoni, Francesco, approximately 1680-1759, Fawkes, Isaac, -1731, Burlington, Richard Boyle, Earl of, 1694-1753, and Hercules (Roman mythological character),
Subject (Topic):
Britannia (Symbolic character), City & town life, Clergy, Costumes, Dogs, and Masquerades
