The Gate of Calais | |
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Artist | William Hogarth |
Year | 1748 |
Medium | Oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 80 cm × 96 cm (31 in × 37+5⁄8 in) |
Location | Tate Britain, London |
The Gate of Calais or O, the Roast Beef of Old England is a 1748 painting by William Hogarth, reproduced as a print from an engraving the next year. Hogarth produced the painting directly after his return from France, where he had been arrested as a spy while sketching in Calais. The scene depicts a side of beef being transported from the harbour to an English tavern in the port, while a group of undernourished, ragged French soldiers and a fat friar look on hungrily. Hogarth painted himself in the left corner with a "soldier's hand upon my shoulder."[1]