Masquerades and Operas, Burlington Gate, William Hogarth, 1724 (or after)

Copy of hogarth's satire on the "bad taste of the town"; 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 bmsat 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 and addison; the gate of the academy beyond is topped with statues of michelangelo, raphael and william kent, admired by three gentlemen; after hogarth. C. 1724 etching and engraving. Date: 1724 (or after). Dimensions: Height: 166 mm; Width: 204 mm (trimmed). Medium: paper. Depicted People: John James Heidegger. Collection: British Museum. Masquerades and Operas, Burlington Gate (BM 1880,1113.6163)