The Beggars Opera

Hograrth’s satire on Gay’s “Beggar’s Opera”. In the foreground a group of
animal-headed singers portraying the principal characters are shown on
an outdoor stage beneath which Apollo and a muse are lying, a lyre and
guitar beside them. In front of the stage a group of musicians play
simple instruments: bagpipes, a salt box, a jew’s harp, a dulcimer, a
bladder and string.To the left, a group of noblemen raise their arms
admiring the performance; a crowd of women stand on the right, and in
front of them a fat butcher and another man are seen in shadow. Behind
the stage, to left, theatre boxes are crowded with an audience chiefly
of ladies, and below is a wall hung with ballads against which two men
urinate and defecate. In the centre background, is a street (perhaps
intended as a backcloth) with an inn sign and gallows. To the right, is a
conventional stage on which the Italian opera is evidently being
performed and men appear to be pressing money on a woman singer. An
angel carrying a ribbon lettered “Harmony” flies off at top right, and
above is a ribbon lettered “et cantare pares et respndere parate”. Four
lines of verse beneath. 

From  The works of William Hogarth from the original plates
restored by James Heath : with the addition of many subjects not before
collected, to which are prefixed a biographical essay on the genius and
productions of Hogarth, and explanations of the subjects of the plates,
by John Nichols.