Abstract: From the end of the 17th century to the early 18th century，the criminal law in England witnessed a robust trend of empiricism， giving an increasing attention to the criminal information.Meanwhile，constitutional reform promoted the transformation of England’s rule of law practicefrom“the lawof God”to“the lawofman，”initiating it to step on the track of modernity and the transition to the capitalist legal system.Fielding and Hogarth，as artists of the same period，share concern for the rule of law process of England. When paying attention tosocial crime，they map the realistic perspective into the portrayal of criminal figures，emphasizing the concept of evidence in criminal law practice.They are concerned with the modern turn of British rule of law，reflect on or question about the traditional theological order，and construct the authority of law，which represents the burgeoning of capitalist legal system. They employ poetic or pictorial rhetorical strategies to reflect，implicitly or explicitly，on the legal defects in the historical context，so as to form anintrospection on legal ethics with a vision of legal improvement.

Key words: Fielding, Hogarth, painting, legal ethics