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.The fifth engraving shows the Countess in a garret, having taken poison. Her body slumps in a chair, aided by an older woman, while a distressed servant reacts in horror. Her infant child, bearing a black syphilitic spot on the cheek, reaches up to her in vain.nThe room is stark and dilapidated: the wallpaper peels, the fire is cold, and broken belongings litter the floor. A bottle lies nearby, confirming her suicide. On the wall hangs an engraving of a hanged manSilvertongueexecuted for the Earls murder.nOnce a figure of privilege, the Countess dies in poverty and disgrace, abandoned by society and destroyed by the consequences of moral ruin.
Engraver: Ravenet, Simon Francis (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 162.
Sheet size (cm): 49×40.7
Technique: Copper Engraving
This state: 1745
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