elegantly dressed work

Ms B's new favourite picture by Hogarth

I have been not unproductive the past week or so, in an odd way. Tired all the time, just wiped out.* I haven't done anything big, concentrated, sustained; but, in a useful first step, I have actually got some stuff done. Yay!

The scene in this picture was probably an ideal even for Hogarth,** & I can tell you conditions are nothing like this for Ms Baroque. I know: it looks spartan. It looks drab. I know some of you will say that. Of course the painting is very beautiful, but it is hard to see how the artist had enough light... But what I see here is a man engrossed in his work, interested in it, lit up from inside with how much he loves his work. He's excited about his project. The room is stripped of distractions. His clothes are comfortable. There's nothing there but him and his work.

Once you get down to it, that really is what it's like.


* note from future: it was the gall stones...

** Shamefully, I've never even noticed the simple thing Maredith points out below: he does seem to have forgotten a stocking. Is that right? Maybe it's a different kind of elegance, a higher elegance. And note, he has no paint on his clothes. That's good going.