Portrait of a young woman

By 1750, William Hogarth had largely stopped chasing aristocratic sitters. He was painting London's prosperous middle class instead, the merchants and professionals whose money and confidence were reshaping the city, and this portrait belongs to that shift. The young woman wears a pale silk dress that catches the light in a soft, silvery sheen, and Hogarth gives far more attention to her face and her composure than to any grand trappings around her. Her upright, self-possessed pose says a good deal about where a woman like her stood in a society that was starting to make room for people of her sort. Today Hogarth is remembered mostly for his biting satirical print series, but steady portrait work like this filled the same years.