It's All in the Detail - A Rake's Progress (Scene 1)

The Heir

We're often taught to capture moments in our writing, in a similar manner to that of a photograph. With that in mind, I thought I'd look at how this is accomplished in a series paintings. One of my favourite artists is William Hogarth, who produced morality tales which are akin to storyboards. The most famous of these is A Rake's Progress, an eight-part serial which depicts the downfall of an aspiring playboy. I'm looking specifically at the print versions (found on Wikimedia Commons), which show the most detail. I've already discussed A Rake's Progress on my other blog here, but I thought I'd do a "marathon" of sorts on this blog, perhaps to help me understand the process.

In this first picture, we follow our protagonist, Tom (identified by a diary on the floor), who has returned home from Oxford (also referenced in the diary). He has recently come into fortune following the death of his father, which is indicated by the upholsterer in the background putting up black fabric. Tom has apparently unearthed all his father's valuables and papers which indicate his new assets: mortgages, bonds, leases, fines, and indentures (suggesting his father was a moneylender). This has almost immediately gotten to his head, as he's already hired a tailor to measure him for new clothes.

The weeping woman (identified by the letters she carries as Sarah Young) is a former romantic partner of Tom's, whom he is breaking up with and offering money. Sarah is holding a ring, indicating that Tom had proposed marriage but is now reneging, while the second woman (presumably her mother) is pointing at her torso, suggesting that she is pregnant with Tom's child. Yeah, Tom's not the most sympathetic character. That said, this is supposed to be a downfall story.

However, if there is anybody who gets the most characterisation in this picture, it's Tom's late father. The bulk of the detail in the picture indicates that he was a miser: His portrait shows him counting money; his coat of arms shows three clamped vices and the motto "beware"; the cupboard containing a roasting jack is shown to have a padlock, while an emaciated cat searches for food in a chest of silverware; the clean fireplace suggests he didn't spend much on heating; he even went as far as re-soling his shoes using the leather cover of a Bible. I have the feeling that would have something of a shock value at the time it was originally produced (between 1732 and 1735).

I'll have a look at the following pictures over the next few days.