William Hogarth (1697-1764) - A Rake's Progress; In Bedlam-the Madhouse

Good impression on paper, laid down on card.

A scene in Bedlam (after the painting at Sir John Soane's Museum) with Tom half-naked and in a state of distress attended by Sarah Young, a clergyman and a warder; in the background, other inmates (including one who believes himself to be God and has cheap prints of saints pinned to his cell wall, and another who believes he is King and sits naked, save for a crown, urinating on to his straw bed) and two female visitors; the wall and the banister of a staircase to right are covered with various graffiti including calculations of longitude, an image of the reverse of a coin, lettered "Britannia/1763", and the name of a well-known prostitute, Betty Careless. 1735; this impression 1763 or later.

Finally insane and violent, in the eighth painting he ends his days in Bethlem Hospital (Bedlam), London's infamous mental asylum. Only Sarah Young is there to comfort him, but Rakewell continues to ignore her. While some of the details in these pictures may appear disturbing to 21st-century eyes, they were commonplace in Hogarth's day. For example, the fashionably dressed women in this last painting have come to the asylum as a social occasion, to be entertained by the bizarre antics of the inmates. In the engraving the name of the prostitute Betty Careless is shown carved into the rail of the stairs.

Bibliographic references
Paulson 1989 / Hogarth's Graphic Works: third edition (139.III)
Paulson 1965/70 / Hogarth's graphic works: first complete edition (139.III)
BM Satires / Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (2246)

(British Museum)

Condition is fair. Foxing. Surface dirt. Some scratches. A later printing.