Hob continues dancing in spite of his father

Laguerre, John (1688–1748)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

ca. 1725

Height:

89.5 cm  (35 1/4 in.)

Width:

92.7 cm  (36 1/2 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

Description

Depicting an episode from the ballad opera "Flora, or Hob in the well," with a libretto attributed to Thomas Doggett and John Hippisley, this painting shows a lively village scene with a spunky young man dancing in defiance of an older man (probably his father) who urges him back into the tavern behind him; villagers are dancing in the background.

People as subjects

Doggett, Thomas (ca. 1670-1721) (Non-musician/dancer)
Hippisley, John (1696–1748) (Non-musician/dancer)

Iconclass

48C862
opera
48C85
theatre, theatrical performance
82A(HOB)
male literary characters (Hob)
43B31
inn, coffee-house, public house, etc.
42B7411
father and son(s) (family group)
54EE32
Defiance
48C8546
comedy
43C9
dancing
43C94
group dancing

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Evenden, Michael. "Flora's descent; or Hob's re-re-re-resurrection", Eighteenth-Century Studies 44/4 (2011) 565-67. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41301605.

Citron, Paula. "Flora, or Hob in the well", Opera Canada 51/3 (Fall 2010)

Hippisley, John. Flora, and hob in the well: or, The country wake: A farce, as it is acted at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane, by His Majesty's servants, by Mr. Cibber (London, 1752)

Notes

There are three other paintings and a set of seven prints by John Laguerre depicting scenes from this ballad opera in the Yale Center for British Art collection, which can be found by searching at https://collections.britishart.yale.edu.

RIdIM record id

6273