William Hogarth – Four Heads from the Raphael Cartoons at Hampton Court.
Four Heads from the Raphael Cartoons at Hampton Court. A plate with an interesting publishing history.
In the legend beneath the image, Mrs Jane Hogarth (Thornhill’s daughter), states that the copperplate was found among Hogarth’s possessions after his death. He may have engraved them for an intended but unexecuted project of his father-in-law’s.
No prints were issued from this copperplate during Hogarth’s lifetime. From 1729 Thornhill had occupied himself with making studies of the Raphael Cartoons, intending to use them to illustrate a treatise on drawing.
The four heads are copies from the work called Paul and the Blind Magician Elymas, before Sergius Paulus (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum). Paulson 264 II/II
William Hogarth
William Hogarth, (born November 10, 1697, London, England—died October 26, 1764, London). The first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Best known for his MORAL and satirical engravings and paintings—e.g., A Rake’s Progress (eight scenes,1733).
His attempts to build a reputation as a history painter and portraitist, however, met with financial disappointment. His aesthetic theories had more influence in Romantic literature than in painting.
