British 1697-1764 William Hogarth Galleries Early satirical works included an Emblematical Print on the South Sea Scheme (c.1721), about the disastrous stock market crash of 1720 known as the South Sea Bubble, in which many English people lost a great deal of money. In the bottom left corner, he shows Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish figures gambling, while in the middle there is a huge machine, like a merry-go-round, which people are boarding. At the top is a goat, written below which is "Who'l Ride" and this shows the stupidity of people in following the crowd in buying stock in The South Sea Company, which spent more time issuing stock than anything else. The people are scattered around the picture with a real sense of disorder, which represented the confusion. The progress of the well dressed people towards the ride in the middle shows how foolish some people could be, which is not entirely their own fault. Other early works include The Lottery (1724); The Mystery of Masonry brought to Light by the Gormogons (1724); A Just View of the British Stage (1724); some book illustrations; and the small print, Masquerades and Operas (1724). The latter is a satire on contemporary follies, such as the masquerades of the Swiss impresario John James Heidegger, the popular Italian opera singers, John Rich's pantomimes at Lincoln's Inn Fields, and the exaggerated popularity of Lord Burlington's prot??g??, the architect and painter William Kent. He continued that theme in 1727, with the Large Masquerade Ticket. In 1726 Hogarth prepared twelve large engravings for Samuel Butler's Hudibras. These he himself valued highly, and are among his best book illustrations. In the following years he turned his attention to the production of small "conversation pieces" (i.e., groups in oil of full-length portraits from 12 to 15 in. high). Among his efforts in oil between 1728 and 1732 were The Fountaine Family (c.1730), The Assembly at Wanstead House, The House of Commons examining Bambridge, and several pictures of the chief actors in John Gay's popular The Beggar's Opera. One of his masterpieces of this period is the depiction of an amateur performance of John Dryden's The Indian Emperor, or The Conquest of Mexico (1732?C1735) at the home of John Conduitt, master of the mint, in St George's Street, Hanover Square. Hogarth's other works in the 1730s include A Midnight Modern Conversation (1733), Southwark Fair (1733), The Sleeping Congregation (1736), Before and After (1736), Scholars at a Lecture (1736), The Company of Undertakers (Consultation of Quacks) (1736), The Distrest Poet (1736), The Four Times of the Day (1738), and Strolling Actresses Dressing in a Barn (1738). He may also have printed Burlington Gate (1731), evoked by Alexander Pope's Epistle to Lord Burlington, and defending Lord Chandos, who is therein satirized. This print gave great offence, and was suppressed (some modern authorities, however, no longer attribute this to Hogarth).  Related Paintings of William Hogarth :. | Hogarth portrait of Captain Thomas Coram | Self-portrait | Heads of Six of Hogarth's Servants | Miss Mary Edwards | The morning reception |
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Juan Carreno de Miranda
English: Juan Carreño de Miranda (March 1614-September 1685) was a Spanish painter of the Baroque period. Español: Juan Carreño de Miranda (Aviles, 1614 - Madrid, 1685) fue un pintor español del siglo XVII, que destace en la Corte española de Felipe IV, y, sobre todo, Carlos II.
Maffei, Francesco
Italian Baroque Era Painter, 1605-1660 Italian painter. He probably trained with his father, Giacomo Maffei, before joining the workshop of the Maganza family in Vicenza. His early works, such as the Ecce homo (ex-Dianin priv. col., Padua, see Pallucchini, 1981,), were influenced by the eclectic style, between Veronese and the Bassani, of Alessandro Maganza. The St Nicholas and the Angel (1626; Vicenza, S Nicola da Tolentino), with colours like those of Veronese, yet lighter, suggests Maffei's rapid development of an independent style that is both rugged and moving. His interest in narrative, already evident in scenes from the Life of St Cajetan (Vicenza, S Stefano), was developed in the later Martyrdom of the Franciscan Minors at Nagasaki (Schio, S Francesco), which is datable to about 1630. Here, the contrast between the pale, silvery tones of the background and the darker foreground figures is derived from Tintoretto, but the exaggerated Mannerist treatment of the main figures also recalls the art of such French engravers as Jacques Bellange and Pierre Brebiette. At the same time there is also an echo of the extreme stylizations of Giovanni Demio.
Felix Maria Diogg
(b Andermatt, 1 July 1762; d Rapperswil, Schwyz, 19 Feb 1834). Swiss painter. From 1782 he was a pupil of Johann Melchior Wyrsch in Besanion, under whom he developed the essential aspects of his portrait style. He also studied further in Rome and Naples from 1786 to 1788. He was capable of executing bright, incisive portraits in the manner of Angelica Kauffman, as in Portrait of an Artist or psychological studies, best seen in Ulysses von Salis-Marschlins. Several of his group portraits, such as the Esslinger Family, show the influence of Italian and British painting, with which he seemed to be familiar. He was a friend of Johann Kaspar Lavater, discoursed with Goethe and enjoyed the company of the Swiss historian Johannes von Miller (1752-1809), whose portrait he painted. His portraits are generally bust-length types set against a solid, dark background. This format was favoured by his Swiss clientele and is seen in Burgomaster Heinrich Krauer (1799; Lucerne, Kstmus.), which also reveals the dignified wooden pose frequently selected by his models. His direct, fashionable treatment of the sitter attracted a wide range of clients from all levels of society. He seemed to be as much at ease painting the Empress of Russia, Yelisaveta Alekseyevna (1814; Karlsruhe, Staatl. Ksthalle) as he was portraying the bourgeoisie of central Switzerland.