1735
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
A Rake's Progress: pl.4 is a 1735 ink by William Hogarth, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This crowded scene shows a chaotic street filled with wild, exaggerated figures. A woman in a fancy dress stands in the center, holding a man’s hand while others scramble around her—some drunk, some begging, and one shirtless guy sprawled on the ground. Upstairs, a man leans out a window with a lantern, and a crowd gathers below, looking up at him. The messy details hint at a story about bad choices and their consequences. The text at the bottom is a poem that matches the chaos, written by the artist himself. Next, check out etching, drypoint, aquatint to see how Hogarth made this wild scene.
William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, satirist, cartoonist and writer.
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