The New Metamorphosis, Plate 2: Fantasio at Church
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 5 1/2 x 2 15/16 in. (14 x 7.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1932
Accession Number
32.35(172)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1724, English artist William Hogarth created *The New Metamorphosis, Plate 2: Fantasio at Church* part of a series of small-scale etchings and engravings illustrating Gildon's contemporary adaptation of the ancient Roman novel *Metamorphoses*also known as *The Golden Ass*) by Lucius Madaur Apuleius. This captures a satirical moment from the story, featuring the character Fantasio in a church setting amid men, women, and imagery of the Crucifixion and Christ. Hogarth, then in his early career, used these prints to blend classical literature with sharp social commentary, poking fun at human f...
About the Artist
William Hogarth|Lucius Madaurensis Apuleius|Charles Gildon · 1697–1764
William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, printmaker, and pictorial satirist who became the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Born into poverty in London, the son of a failed schoolmaster who was imprisoned for debt, Hogarth's early experiences with the harsh realities of 18th-century urban life profoundly shaped his artistic vision. After apprenticing with si...