Dr Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Winchester, 1742

William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)

RA Collection: Art

Portrait of Benjamin Hoadly in the dignity of the office of Bishop of Winchester, to which he had been appointed in 1734. Behind him is a stained-glass window with the figure of St Paul on the left and a crowned angel holding the arms of the see of Winchester on the right. Engraved by Bernard Baron after the 1741 painting by William Hogarth, now in the Tate collection. In spite of his prejudice against France (evident in many prints), Baron, a Frenchman, was one of Hogarth's preferred engravers of his works. Baron could engrave complex images such as this portrait without reversing them. This print was clearly made by Baron under instruction by Hogarth (Paulson supposes that Hogarth made an intermediate drawing to serve as a basis for the print).