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