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Cruelty in Perfection
William Hogarth1750
- Attribution
- John Bell (English, 1721–1780) after William Hogarth (English, 1697-1764)
- Medium
- Woodcut with letterpress in black on ivory laid paper
- Physical dimensions
- Image/block: 45.2 × 38.2 cm (17 13/16 × 15 1/16 in.); Sheet: 51.6 × 41.5 cm (20 3/8 × 16 3/8 in.)
- Credit line
- William McCallin McKee Memorial and Robert M. Chase Endowment funds
CATALOGUE RECORD
Museum metadata is available under CC0. Image availability and rights are separate; consult the source record.
Source rights statement: Public domain
View the museum record ↗From the museum
Hogarth frequently used an episodic format to depict an unsavory character’s descent into debauchery, and the four-print series Four Stages of Cruelty features the artist’s most sadistic villain, Tom Nero. After impregnating a lady’s maid and convincing her to steal from her mistress and run away with him, he murders her. In John Bell’s large-scale woodcut after Hogarth, Nero is apprehended as the dead body of his lover is discovered.
Description: Art Institute of Chicago · CC BY 4.0