The First Stage of Cruelty
1751
ink
From the collection of Rosenwald Collection
1751
ink
From the collection of Rosenwald Collection
The First Stage of Cruelty is a 1751 ink by William Hogarth, a Romanticism work, held at Rosenwald Collection.
This chaotic scene shows a crowd of people beating a man tied to a post. Dogs bark and scramble around his legs while others watch from windows. The buildings look old, with brick walls and small panes of glass. One guy in a hat is hitting the man with a stick, and another holds a knife. The title *First Stage of Cruelty* hints this is part of a series about abuse. Hogarth used sharp lines to show the violence clearly. Next, check out etching, drypoint, aquatint to see how he made this print.
