The Marriage Settlement, Plate 1
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
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Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Curtiss Rose
Accession Number
1959.311.1
Tags
About this artwork
William Hogarth bitingly satirized the follies of Enlightenment high society in Marriage à la Mode, a print series whose title roughly translates as “marriage in the current fashion.” The series follows the story of an incompatible marriage arranged for financial and social gain. Here, the impoverished Earl of Squander gestures to his exalted family tree as he haggles over the marriage contract between his son and a wealthy alderman’s daughter. Uninvolved in the negotiations, the young couple si...