| 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]
- ^ J. B. Nichols, 1833 p.63-p.64 "I meant to display to my own countryman the striking difference of food, priests, soldiers, &c. of two nations" ... "The melancholy and miserable Highlander, browzing on his scanty fare, consisting of a bit of bread and an onion, is intended for one of the many that fled this country after the rebellion in 1745."