What does William Hogarth’s self-portrait with his pug dog Trump symbolize?

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The Painter and His Pug, self-portrait by William Hogarth, oil on canvas, 1745; in the Tate Gallery, London. — William Hogarth *The Painter and His Pug*, self-portrait by William Hogarth, oil on canvas, 1745; in the Tate Gallery, London.

William Hogarth’s 1745 self-portrait served as an artistic manifesto. In the painting, he mischievously juxtaposed his own blunt and intelligent features with those of his sturdy pug dog, Trump.1

This pairing, along with the inclusion of volumes by great English writers such as William Shakespeare, John Milton, and Jonathan Swift, underscored his intellectual and artistic identity. Beside these elements, he included a palette inscribed with the "line of beauty," which functioned as his shorthand symbol for the variety, intricacy, and expressiveness of nature.1