The Reward of Cruelty
Medium
Woodcut
Dimensions
sheet: 17 15/16 x 14 3/4 in. (45.6 x 37.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Mrs. Frederick Allien, 1921
Accession Number
21.72(1)
Tags
Art Historical Context
William Hogarth’s “The Reward of Cruelty,” issued as a woodcut in 1790 by publishers John Bell and Boydell and Co., forms the dramatic finale to his 1751 series The Four Stages of Cruelty. The print shows the dissected corpse of the brutal anti-hero Tom Nero surrounded by skeletons and human figures, while dogs gnaw at his remains—an uncompromising image of suffering meant to illustrate the inevitable consequences of a life of violence. Hogarth, celebrated for his biting social satire, created the series to reach a broad audience with a clear moral warning against cruelty to animals and peopl...
About the Artist
William Hogarth|John Bell|Boydell and Co. · 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...