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Biographical anecdotes of William Hogarth;
Biographical anecdotes of William Hogarth Author:John Nichols Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Rakewell is chaining down to the floor, to prevent his deftroying himfelf, as the wound fhcws us he has already made an attempt : his feems to be that kind of ma... more »dnefs which Mr. Gar rick exhibited in Lear; from whofe performance, it is faid, Mr. Gray rook his idea of moody madtvfs laughing wild. 1 he dog is finely introduced : not to Ihew that faithful attention to their matters, even in diftrefs and poverty, which marks thofe dogs in Gin-Lane, and in the fixth plate of the 'Prentices but to awaken our pity in this re- prefentation of the ruins of human nature, in feeing a brute creature making flight of, and, perhaps, dif- turbing and perplexing an unhappy objedt. The emaciated figure, and the countenance, of the aftro- nomer, are horridly fine j nor is the frightful figure of the mufician lefs admirable, on whofe fingers are five rings : this, furely, has no allufion to Farinelli's prefents ? The SLEEPING CONGREGATION. Very little can be added to Dr. Trujler's explanation. This fpfawling angel of fome country Laguerre has but one wing; but this deficiency is very amply made up by each leg having two thighs , and the want of uniformity in the window panes, as well as the grofs difproportion in the windows at the top, The Poet of Nature obferves, th.it Natureis fine in love: and, where 'tis fine, It Jends fume previous inftaoce of iifclf After the thing'it'[oves. E ftiewiheW very clearly the hand of a village architect. The lion feems more tame than we generally fee him, it having been the cuftom, for fome time palt, to paint him always in a monftrous paffion. The wine-cup is not improperly placed near the clerk, who now and then very probably takes a fip of the communion wine at other times than at the Jacramcnt. This very admirable figure of felf-im- portance ...« less