An Election Entertainment

The first stage of a cycle of four prints inspired by the infamous 1754 parliamentary election in Oxfordshire in the General Election of 1754 represents one of Hogarth’s most complex prints. It is based on a cycle of paintings deposited at the Sir John Soane’s Museum in London. The composition parodies the Baroque portrayal of banquets, yet at the same time satirically references the composition of Leonardo’s Last Supper. The general disarray of the Election Entertainment of the Whigs (the Tories are passing outside the window) is heightened by the superabundance of alcohol, which, as in Hogarth’s other works is seen as a destabilizing element and harbinger of chaos.