Paul Before Felix, 1752

William Hogarth (1697 - 1764)

RA Collection: Art

Engraving after Hogarth's painting Paul before Felix (also called 'Paul at Ephesus'), commissioned by Lincoln's Inn in 1747 and painted by Hogarth between 1748 and 1751. The subject proposed by Hogarth was the biblical account of the Apostle Paul dealing with the law in its many aspects.

This print was first published in 1752 alongside a print of another religious painting by Hogarth, Moses Brought to Pharaoh's Daughter (17/3559), which hows the moment when the infant Moses, who was found by the banks of the Nile by pharaoh's daughter, is given up to her to be brought up at court. The subscription ticket for the two prints was a 'burlesque' of Paul Before Felix (see 17/3548). Luke Sullivan, the engraver who worked with Hogarth on Mose Brought to Pharaoh's Daughter, also produced his own version of Paul Before Felix (17/3434), which unlike Hogarth's own does not reverse the painting.

Early state of the print predating various alterations to the text.