The New Metamorphosis, Plate 3: The Bandits Abduct Camilla

The New Metamorphosis, Plate 3: The Bandits Abduct Camilla by William Hogarth is an important example of early eighteenth-century English printmaking. Created circa 1723-1724, the piece employs the demanding combination of etching and engraving, techniques Hogarth utilized to achieve sharp detail and rich tonal contrast in his narrative works. This print belongs to a satirical series that commented on contemporary literary trends, specifically responding to the popular, yet sometimes crude, translations of Apuleius’s The Golden Ass.

The scene depicted here is dramatically charged, focusing on the forced abduction of the central female figure, Camilla. Several men, identifiable as bandits by their aggressive postures and rough dress, restrain or carry the distressed woman. The composition is dynamic, using the power and motion of horses, which rear up or gallop, to emphasize the violent urgency of the crisis. Hogarth often employed his prints to critique excessive melodrama and social disorder, utilizing familiar subjects like men and women caught in moments of high strife to engage his burgeoning audience.

As a major figure in Georgian art, Hogarth established a crucial bridge between fine art painting and the mass-marketed narrative prints that defined his career. Works like this plate from The New Metamorphosis cemented his reputation not merely as an artist, but as a visual moralist and storyteller. Classified firmly as a print, this etching and engraving resides in the extensive collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it serves as a valuable document of 18th-century British cultural history.