1-153-835 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Caricature of George Frideric Handel (1685-1759), 1754. German Baroque composer Handel portrayed as a pig, a Charming Brute. The poem criticises him for being a glutton: Tho Figures odd, yet who would think; Within this Tunn of Meat and Drink!; There dwells the Soul of soft Desires; And all that Harmony inspires. Can contrast such as this be found; Upon the Globe's retorsive round; There can you Hogshead is his seat; His sole devotion is_to Eat. Handel spent much of his life in England, where he composed his masterpiece, Messiah.