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The amazing web site of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Industry and Idleness. Plate 1. The two Apprentices, by Hogarth.

HAKESPEARE'S     ONNETS

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PICTURE GALLERY.

William Hogarth 1697 - 1764.

 
 Industry and Idleness.  Plate I.  The Two Apprentices.  1747.

Hogarth first achieved fame as an artist through his series of moralistic engravings, commencing with  A Harlot's Progress in 1731.  This was followed by A Rake's Progress in 1735,  Marriage ŕ-la-mode in 1743-5, and Industry and Idleness in 1747 .  Originally the sets of pictures were  oil paintings which Hogarth subsequently published as engravings.  However the Industry and Idleness series  was conceived entirely as a set of engravings which were not copied from paintings.  They were put on sale for one shilling each, which is equivalent today, (2008), to about ten pounds sterling (GBP).  Evidently Hogarth was trying to appeal to a wider audience than the upper class wealthy who were his usual patrons.  
The Industry and Idleness series is rather crudely moralistic, depicting how industry and virtue are rewarded with worldly success, while idleness, corruption and vice is ultimately punished by the gallows.  Despite this rather tedious tale, which is not true to life and simplistically misrepresents the apprenticeship system of the time, the engravings are a superb record of both the lower and upper end of London life of the time.    The banqueting scene of Plate 8 and the two final crowd scenes of the Tyburn spectacle and the Lord  Mayor's Parade are incomparable and show the satirical Hogarth at his very best.  

In the first engraving we are introduced to the two apprentices sitting at their looms in a workshop. Behind them stands the master  with stick in hand.  According to my source this is 'the interior of a factory in Spitalfields, - one of the most extensive establishments in that district of the metropolis, and belonging to a worthy citizen of the name of West.  In a large, airy and well-lighted apartment are several looms, employed in the weaving of that soft and lustrous texture which constitutes one of the most costly as well as the most beautiful of our manufactures'.  
The two apprentices are contrasted in this picture - Frank Goodchild, the honest one, works diligently at his loom.  The tale of Dick Whittington, the pauper boy who became Lord Mayor of London, hangs on the wall above him.  Meanwhile Tom Idle, the lazy apprentice, sleeps off the effects of a flagon or two of ale, while a cat plays with the shuttle of the loom.  Moll Flanders, probably a scurrilous ballad based on Defoe's eponymous novel, hangs above his head, while the neglected and torn Prentises Guide lies on the ground.  
Probably Hogarth drew the setting from life and the engraving gives an interesting picture of a weaving workshop of the period.  


Hogarth: Industry and Idleness. Plate 1. The two apprentices.

  William Hogarth

British Artist and Engraver

Industry and Idleness.  Plate 1.  The two apprentices.

Engraving, published   1747
 
 


Hogarth: Industry and Idleness. Plate 1. The two apprentices.



Source:  Hogarth's Works published by J. Dicks, 313 The Strand, London.  Circa 1880.  


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Hogarth: Industry and Idleness. Plate 1. The two apprentices. Hogarth: Industry and Idleness. Plate 2. TheIndustrious Apprentice performing the duty of a Christian
Industry and Idleness. Plate 3.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 4.

 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 1.  The two apprentices.  Industry and Idleness.  Plate 2.  The industrious 'prentice performing the duty of a Christian.       Industry and Idleness.  Plate 3.  The idle apprentice at play in the churchyard during divine service.       Industry and Idleness.  Plate 4. The Industrious 'prentice a favourite and entrusted by his master.                                  

Industry and Idleness. Plate 5.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 6
Industry and Idleness. Plate 7.
Industry and Idleness. Plate 8.

 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 5.  The idle 'prentice turned away and sent to sea.    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 6.  The industrious 'prentice out of his time and married to his master's daughter.    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 7.  The idle 'prentice returned from sea and in a garret with a common prostitute.
 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 8.  The industrious 'prentice grown rich and sheriff of London.
                               

Industry and Idleness.  Plate 9.
Industry and Idleness.  Plate 10.
Industry and Idleness.  Plate 11.
Industry and Idleness.  Plate 12.

 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 9.  The idle 'prentice betrayed (by his whore) and taken in a night cellar with his accomplice.    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 10.  The industrious 'prentice Alderman of London, the idle one brought before him and impeached by his accomplice.    Industry and Idleness.  Plate 11.  The idle 'prentice executed at Tyburn.
 Industry and Idleness.  Plate 12.  The industrious 'prentice Lord Mayor of London.  
                               

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Hogarth: Industry and Idleness. Plate 1. The two apprentices.


  Industry and Idleness.  Plate 1.  The two apprentices. 

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