5 Key Takeaways

• 1

  William Hogarth's 1733 painting Southwark Fair features two oculists, Richard Rock and Andreas Larini, highlighting their roles in 18th-century society.

• 2

  Richard Rock, an oculist from Hamburg, was known for couching cataracts but later shifted focus to dentistry and venereal disease.

• 3

  Andreas Larini, also known as Signor Violante, was an Italian oculist and acrobat, famous for his daring performances in the 1720s.

• 4

  The Southwark Fair was abolished in 1762 due to concerns over vice and disturbances, reflecting societal attitudes towards itinerant healers.

• 5

  Hogarth's works provide a satirical commentary on the moral decay of society, portraying oculists as operating on the fringes of respectability.