Plate five, from A Harlot's Progress
1732
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 30.3 × 37.5 cm (11 15/16 × 14 13/16 in.); Plate: 32.4 × 39.2 cm (12 13/16 × 15 7/16 in.); Sheet: 43.4 × 52.7 cm (17 1/8 × 20 3/4 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
228987
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Relieved from hard labor because of poor health, Moll lies dying of syphilis as two doctors compete to empty her purse and her landlady ransacks her trunk. Already shrouded for warmth, the harlot gives up the ghost as her attendant attempts to stop the uproar and her son, possibly syphilitic as well, itches at the lice in his hair.
About the Artist
William Hogarth · 1697–1764
William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, printmaker, and pictorial satirist who became the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Born into poverty in London, the son of a failed schoolmaster who was imprisoned for debt, Hogarth's early experiences with the harsh realities of 18th-century urban life profoundly shaped his artistic vision. After apprenticing with si...