Human frailty provided hogarth with an endless source of humour. His incisive satires impart lessons through candid portrayals of people's shortcomings. In this scene, a congregation nods off during a church service as the clergyman reads from the gospel. The parish clerk in the centre ogles at the exposed bosom of the sleeping woman on the right— his devotion displaced from the virgin to the young woman. When hogarth republished this plate in 1762 he added extra details including warts on the reader's face and cracks in the wall. Date: 1763. Dimensions: 256 x 197 mm. Medium: engraving on paper. Collection: Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery. The Sleeping Congregation - William Hogarth - 20-1932-16
