Painting #B17 - Marriage a-la-mode

Marriage à-la-mode is a series of six pictures depicting a pointed skewering of upper class 18th century society.
- William Hogarth (English, 1697-1764)
- oil (70 x 91 cm each) in 1743-45
- National Gallery (London)

Hogarth was a pioneer in western sequential art.

1. The Marriage Settlement

2. The Tête à Tête
The married couple are 
totally uninterested in each other. 

3. The Inspection 

4. The Toilette
Lust and syphilis were in fashion

5. The Bagnio

6. The Lady's Death

Source: Wikipedia

Marriage à-la-mode

Lust and syphilis were in fashion

A Rake's Progress  

- William Hogarth in 1732–33

- then engraved and published in print form in 1734

- Sir John Soane's Museum (London)

The series of 8 paintings shows the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, the spendthrift son and heir of a rich merchant, who comes to London, wastes all his money on luxurious living, prostitution and gambling, and as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately Bethlem Hospital, or Bedlam.

"The series of 8 paintings shows the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, the spendthrift son and heir [1] of a rich merchant, who comes to London, wastes all his money on luxurious living [2], prostitution [3] and gambling [6], and as a consequence is imprisoned (for debt overdue) in the Fleet Prison [7] and ultimately Bethlem (mental) Hospital [8]."

[4] He was about to be arrested for debt overdue. [5] Then he had to marry an old woman for money. All along, his former maid Sarah, whom he fathered a daughter, loyally but miserably supported this heartless man.