Marriage a la Mode, Plate III (The Inspection)
Date1745-1790
After work by
William Hogarth
(1697 - 1764)
Publisher
William Hogarth
(1697 - 1764)
Engraver
Bernard Baron
(ca. 1700 - 1766)
OriginEngland, London
MediumBlack and white line engraving and etching
DimensionsOverall: 23 × 17 13/16in. (58.4 × 45.2cm)
Other (Plate): 18 1/8 × 15 1/8in. (46 × 38.4cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1967-567,3
DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "Marriage A-la-Mode, Plate III/ Invented Painted & Published by W.m Hogarth/ Engraved by B. Baron/ According to Act of Parliament April 1.st 1745"Second state.
Label TextThe third plate in William Hogarth's Marriage à la Mode continues as the Viscount has now sought the assistance of a French doctor (M. de la Pillule), having contracted venereal disease as indicated by the black spot on his neck which was a symbol Hogarth used for those taking mercurial pills for the ailment. He gestures to the doctor with cane playfully raised in one hand and a pillbox in the other, apparently asking the doctor for another remedy for his disease, which he has passed on to his teenage mistress, seated with him dabbing a handkerchief to a sore on her face. An older woman, whose identity has been disputed by scholars, brandishes a bistoury or scalpel while glaring threateningly at the Viscount. Some have interpreted her to be a bawd or procuress responsible for the young girl; the woman from whom the Viscount claims he caught the disease; or the young mistress’ mother. The doctor’s shop is filled with curious odds and ends including a stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling, a wolf’s head, mummies, a narwhal’s tusk, and a skeleton.
For other prints in the set, see: 1967-567,1-1967-567,6
1738
July 1, 1745
July 1, 1745
July 1, 1745
March 25, 1738