The Wedding of Stephen Beckingham and Mary Cox

This wedding group is one of the artist's first essays in the fashionable genre of the conversation piece. Beckingham, a London lawyer, and his bride are flanked by members of their families. The marriage took place at St. Benet's but the setting is based on the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square. Although Hogarth was sought after for his ability to capture a likeness, the solemn event depicted here seems to have had limited appeal to him by comparison with his famous satirical subjects. (Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art)