Hogarth is best known for his satirical and moralising paintings and engravings. His observations of Georgian society were often witty and brutally honest. They were hugely popular and widely reproduced as prints.

Hogarth visited Lord Lovat when he was waiting to go on trial for high treason. This silhouetted drawing is most likely a preparatory sketch for the print on display to the right. The drawing was made in reverse. After etching and printing, the final image would appear as Hogarth intended.

Lord Lovat was known as ‘the most devious man in Scotland’ and nicknamed ‘the Fox’. Guided solely by self-interest, he switched his support back and forth during the Jacobite Risings. He was eventually found out in 1746 and executed the following year at Tower Hill for high treason.