Rich's glory, or, His triumphant entry into Covent-Garden

attributed to William Hogarth
1732

Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University Library, Folio 75 H67 800 v.1 (Oversize)

"Satire on John Rich and his new theatre in Covent Garden with a procession moving from left to right across the east end of the market square and entering the colonnade leading to the theatre. John Gay is carried on a porter's back preceded by a crowd, one of whom cries "Gay for ever". He is followed by Rich, as Harlequin, driving an open carriage drawn by six satyrs, with Columbine and a spotted dog (a disguise adopted by Rich as Harlequin in "Perseus and Andromeda", 1730). Two authors bow obsequiously to Rich, another wheels a barrow of plays towards the theatre, bootblacks also bow, but in the lower right-hand corner, Alexander Pope defecates on sheets from the Beggar's Opera (the great triumph of Rich and Gay). Actors in costume, some identified in the verses below, follow the carriage, and a cart containing properties including "A Box of Thunder and Lightening", brings up the rear. Beyond the main procession is a large crowd of admirers and a closed carriage; St Paul's church in the background is clearly identifiable."—British Museum online catalogue