The Industrious 'Prentice performing the Dutyof a Christian
1747
Medium
etching and engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 26.7 × 35 cm (10 1/2 × 13 3/4 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Rosenwald Collection
Accession Number
1944.5.45
Art Historical Context
William Hogarth's *The Industrious 'Pr performing the Duty of a Christian* (1747) is a captivating etching and engraving from his renowned series *Industry and Idleness*. This 12-plate moral tale contrasts the fates of two apprentices in 18th-century London: virtuous Francis Goodchild, who rises through diligence and piety, and the lazy Tom Idle, who falls into ruin. Here, in plate 11, the industrious prentice—now a prosperous merchant and sheriff—humbly fulfills his Christian duty as church warden, overseeing a christening amid a bustling congregation. Hogarth, a pioneering English artist, m...
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...