Night,

1738

Hogarth became famous as a satirical commentator on contemporary urban life and politics through the inexpensive engravings he made and published after the narrative series of paintings he called "modern moral subjects." These included the humorous and horrific Four Times of the Day—a mordant parody of pastoral and mythological depictions of this allegorical theme, which Hogarth envisioned as a dawn-to-dusk tour through different neighborhoods of London. The last and most violent scene in the series, Night takes place on a crowded street near Charing Cross, underneath a moonlit sky. Hogarth incorporated a wide range of artificial light effects—candles, torches, an overturned coach, and an accidental fire—to heighten an atmosphere of disorderly behavior under cover of darkness, in a city that barely sleeps.