The Beggar's Opera

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Artist: William Hogarth (British, 1697–1764)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 23 1/4 x 30 inches (59.1 x 76.2 cm)
Museum: Yale Center for British Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

This work is among the earliest paintings of an English stage performance. Hogarth, initially known for his satirical prints, gained acclaim as a painter with his representations of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera (1728). The popular satirical play presents a world turned upside down, in which highwaymen and robbers behave like gentlemen. In this climactic scene, the notorious highwayman Macheath, in irons and facing execution, stands between Lucy Lockit and Polly Peachum — both of whom believe themselves to be married to him and plead for his life.Hogarth includes likenesses of the actors and other notable individuals, advertising his skills as a portrait painter.

He alludes to the real-life drama of an affair between the actress Lavinia Fenton (1710–1760), who kneels on the rug, and Charles Powlett, third Duke of Bolton (1685–1754), who gazes at her from a prime seat at the far right. The banner above the stage reads Veluti in speculum (as in a mirror), suggesting that the stage action reflects real life.

Text: Yale Center for British Art.