Plate six, from A Harlot's Progress
1732
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image: 30.2 × 37.9 cm (11 15/16 × 14 15/16 in.); Plate: 31.9 × 38.8 cm (12 9/16 × 15 5/16 in.); Sheet: 43.7 × 53.5 cm (17 1/4 × 21 1/8 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
228988
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Having expired at a young age from venereal disease, Hogarth’s harlot does not appear in the final plate of the series. She is represented by her coffin, which serves mainly as a bar. The drunkenly distraught figure at the lower right may be Moll’s former madam, but otherwise the company at the wake appears mostly unaffected by the death. One woman tries on a bonnet, likely Moll’s, before a mirror, while a parson gropes a prostitute and spills his drink.
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...