The Sleeping Congregation
This rough oil sketch is Hogarth's earliest dated painting. As a social satirist, Hogarth favored familiar, everyday subjects presented with a wry, comic twist. Here, the minister's dull sermon has put the entire congregation to sleep before he is halfway through (note the hourglass by the pulpit).
Credit: Gift of Mrs. Lyndon M. King
1728
Oil on canvas
21.8 x 18.2 in
58.10
Image and text courtesy of Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2022
Where you'll find this
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Permanent collection
