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The amazing web site of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Industry and Idleness. Plate 10. The Industrious Apprentice Alderman of London, the Idle One brought before him and Impeached by his Accomplice. , by Hogarth.
HAKESPEARE'S ONNETS
This is part of the web site of Shakespeare's sonnets
PICTURE GALLERY.
William Hogarth 1697 - 1764.
| 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. |
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| As Alderman it appears that Goodchild has the task of deciding whether those apprehended should be charged. Evidently Idle's one eyed accomplice has agreed to turn King's evidence in the hope of saving his own skin. A court official holds the bible for him to swear on, at the same time receiving a back-hander from someone whose case is perhaps due to be heard. Tom Idle's mother is nearby and weeping, and she is being admonished by a court steward. Tom's pistols and a sword are held up as evidence. The Clerk of the Court is writing a letter to allow Tom to be kept in Newgate, the notorious prison of Hogarth's time. Goodchild shields his eyes from the scene and turns away either in pity or disgust or weariness. Fire buckets hang beneath the balustrade. They bear the initials SA, perhaps designating a Fire Insurance Company such as Sun Alliance. The Sun was a common fire insurance symbol often attached to buildings, as in Plate 6. | ||
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London Bridge As it was in Shakespeare's day, circa 1600. |
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