A Rake's Progress, Plate 4

A Rake's Progress, Plate 4 by William Hogarth, dating to 1735, is a key image in the artist’s celebrated narrative sequence detailing the downfall of the spendthrift Tom Rakewell. This print, one of eight in the series, utilizes the combined technical complexity of etching and engraving, presented here in its third state of three. Hogarth’s prints were widely circulated and served both as high art and moral instruction for the contemporary London public, pioneering a new form of modern pictorial satire.

The plate captures a moment of intense crisis inside a chaotic London gambling house. Rakewell, having already squandered his fortune, is depicted in the throes of financial ruin amidst a street scene populated by diverse men and women engaging in reckless gambling. The action is frantic, focusing on the despair of the losers and the manic greed of the winners. The composition highlights the dissolution of social order; fighting dogs mirror the viciousness of the human interactions. The intensity of the scene is amplified by the external details; outside the window, a bolt of lightning illuminates the sky, dramatically paralleling the moral and financial storm collapsing upon the Rake.

This artwork is a vital document of 18th-century London society, reflecting anxieties regarding sudden wealth, debt, and the moral corruption associated with gambling. This powerful piece, renowned for Hogarth’s masterful use of light and shadow, is held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Because of its age and profound cultural impact, this 1735 work is today part of the public domain, allowing prints and studies of Hogarth’s pioneering satire to be accessible globally.