Colouring: Uncoloured
Condition: Very Good
Confirmed: No
Description: Marriage A-la-Mode is a series of six engravings based on oil paintings by William Hogarth. As in the original paintings, the prints offer a scathing critique of the idea that the aristocracy and wealthy live moral or virtuous lives. Hogarth satirises the institution of arranged marriage, portraying a young couple and their circle engaging in infidelity, drunkenness, gambling, and various other vices.nThe sixthe and final engraving depicts the Countesss funeral. The setting is grim and impersonal: her coffin lies in a dark, cluttered room while those around her show no signs of grief. A lecherous undertaker flirts with a maid, and the familys child is passed to a careless nurse.nA dog sniffs at the Countesss remains, indifferent to the solemnity of the scene. Above, a poorly rendered painting and decaying decorations complete the atmosphere of neglect.nThe series ends not with redemption, but with apathy and decayHogarths ultimate commentary on the emptiness of social ambition and moral collapse.
Engraver: Scotin, Gérard Jean-Baptiste (1698-after 1755)
First published: London: William Hogarth, 1745
Image Size (cm): 44.5×35.5
Mapmaker: Hogarth, William (1697-1764)
Notes: Purchase details
Other states: After Hogarths death in 1764, the plates passed through various publishers and were reissued multiple times
Primary Category: Prints & Related Material
References: Paulson 163.
Sheet size (cm): 49×41.5
Technique: Copper Engraving
This state: 1745
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