The Idle 'Prentice Executed at Tyburn.

1712–1764 · Virkested

London

1748

A trip to France and “The Gate of Calais”

Back from a visit to France — which, Horace Walpole wrote, was risky after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle — Hogarth at once painted “The Gate of Calais”: the French are shown as cringing, emaciated and superstitious, while an enormous sirloin of beef is carried to the English inn as a symbol of British prosperity. By his own account he painted himself in the left corner sketching the gate, with a soldier’s hand on his shoulder.

1749

A country house in Chiswick

In 1749 Hogarth bought a country retreat in Chiswick — now Hogarth’s House, a museum — and spent time there for the rest of his life; his main home remained the house in Leicester Fields (now Leicester Square).