Marriage A-la-Mode: Plate VI - The Lady's Death

Marriage A-la-Mode is a series of six pictures painted and then engraved by William Hogarth between 1743 and 1745.  They pillorise 18th-century society by showing the disastrous results of an ill-considered marriage for money rather than love.  This was Hogarth's first moralising series satirising upper class patronage and aesthetics.

The tale is of a marriage arranged by two self-seeking fathers - a spendthrift nobleman who requires cash and a wealthy City of London merchant who wants to buy into the aristocracy.

'The Lady's Death' is the sixth and final of the series and depicts the Countess, who has returned to her father's house in the City of London, dying after an overdose of laudanum following the hanging of her lover, Silvertongue, for the murder of her husband.  Her child, deformed by congenital syphilis, kisses her goodbye and her miserly father removes a ring from her finger as she takes her final breaths.

This print is produced on St Cuthbert's Mill special acid free archival artboard.  The overall loose print size is 33cm x 24cm.  The framed print is presented in 20mm black wood archivist moulding, complete with rope hanger over hardboard back with a cream board mount.  The overall size is 43cm x 33cm.