The Beggar’’s Opera
1729
Hogarth froze a moment of high drama from John Gay's hit musical 'The Beggar's Opera,' which satirized the politics of the day by setting a criminal underworld story to popular tunes. In the center, the highwayman Macheath stands in chains inside Newgate Prison, flanked by the women who love him, while the real 'criminals'—the wealthy aristocrats in the boxes—watch with detached amusement. It’s a brilliant visual joke about class and corruption that was so popular it ran for 62 nights, a record for the time.
- Technique
- Oil on canvas
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