Morning: William Hogarth's love letter to London life

Revellers in a London winter warm themselves at daybreak by a fire, while snow gathers on the rooftops of Covent Garden. The molls and rakes who have been out all night embrace by lusty flames, while a churchgoer looks disdainfully on their ragged company. St Paul’s Church, built by Inigo Jones, contrasts in its sombre architecture with the sleazy street life. This is the very spot where today’s Christmas shoppers pause to admire Covent Garden’s Christmas tree. In Hogarth’s terrific 1736 painting the chill of winter – look at the way the pious woman’s servant shivers, hands in his pockets – cannot repress the raucous life of London. It cannot make people give to the beggars, either. Here is winter in the city – foul and fair
Illustration: © John Hammond/Upton House/National Trust