A Harlot's Progress, Plate 6

A Harlot's Progress, Plate 6 by William Hogarth, created in 1732, marks the tragic and chaotic conclusion to his revolutionary six-part narrative series. This work, a finely executed etching and engraving, is presented here in its desirable first state of three, documenting the decline and death of the fictional protagonist, Moll Hackabout. Hogarth's groundbreaking approach utilized sequential prints to deliver biting moral commentary, making the work widely accessible to the public and securing the artist's reputation as a keen satirist of 18th-century English life.

The final scene, set within a cluttered interior, is Moll’s funeral. The print serves as a harsh critique of the false piety and drunkenness that often characterized such lower-class rituals. The composition is dense with figures, including a mix of men and women, many of whom are depicted as deeply hypocritical, more concerned with drinking and brawling than mourning the dead. The presence of young children in the morbid scene underscores the inescapable cycle of poverty and depravity that Moll’s life represented.

As one of the most famous early examples of the sequential graphic narrative, this piece influenced subsequent generations of satirists and graphic artists. Hogarth’s commercial decision to publish and sell the complete series of A Harlot's Progress as subscription prints was a groundbreaking commercial move for British art. This important impression resides in the esteemed collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Due to its historical significance, high-resolution images of this influential print series are frequently available through the public domain for research and study.