"Masquerades and Operas – Burlington Gate" and "Burlesque on Kent's Altarpiece at St. Clements Church . . . "
London: Craddock and Barnard, 1837. Two engravings on one sheet, 25 x 19 inches. Few marginal tears.
The top iamge is a copy of Paulson, 44.
William Kent had painted at altarpiece for St. Clement Danes’ church, depicting a celestial choir with five singing angels, a crowd of attendant cherubs, and the Holy Spirit in the shape of a Dove. The parishioners had commissioned the piece, because they were impressed by Kent’s Court connections, however, they were greatly disappointed when the painting was unveiled, perhaps seeing a likeness in one of the angels to Priness Clementina Sobieski, wife of the Old Pretender, but more probably because Kent was, at times, a spectacularly bad painter. The congregation petitioned the Bishop of London, Edmund Gibson, to remove it; and it was duly removed to the vestry during September 1725, although it was borrowed from time to time by the Crown & Anchor Tavern for its Music Room. In a numbered, satirical key beneath the design, Hogarth highlights Kent’s appallingly bad draughtsmanship and his out of proportion figures. The painting was destroyed by bombing in 1940.
The plates were bought by the publisher Baldwin, Cradock and Joy at the Boydell sale in 1818. The Works of William Hogarth as published by Baldwin, Cradock and Joy in 1822 with the original plates restored by James Heath, engraver to His Majesty. The Heath edition was the last to print directly from Hogarth's original engraved plates. Item #51-2809
Price: $150.00