Hogarth’s unfinished oil sketch is an illustration to John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost. Satan, on the left, confronts Death who bars his way from hell to earth. Between them is Sin, shown as a naked woman. She reveals to Satan that she is his daughter, and that Death is their incestuous child.Choosing a subject from Paradise Lost was a significant step for Hogarth. It demonstrated his ambitions both as a commentator on moral issues and as a history painter.