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Title Marriage A-la-Mode: 1, The Marriage Settlement, William Hogarth
Library The National Gallery
Date 1743
Description 'Marriage A-la-Mode' was the first of Hogarth's satirical moralising series of engravings that took the upper echelons of society as its subject. The paintings were models from which the engravings would be made. The engravings reverse the compositions. In this painting, the story starts in the mansion of the Earl Squander who is arranging to marry his son to the daughter of a wealthy but mean city merchant. The aged Earl (far right) is shown with his family tree and the crutches he needs because of his gout. The new house which he is having built is visible through the window. The merchant, who is plainly dressed, holds the marriage contract, while his daughter behind him listens to a young lawyer, Silvertongue. The Earl's son, the Viscount, admires his face in a mirror. Two dogs, chained together in the bottom left corner, perhaps symbolise the marriage. Hogarth's details, especially the paintings on the walls, comment on the action. A grand portrait in the French manner on the rear wall confronts a Medusa head, denoting horror, on the side wall.
Document Type Painting
Primary Commodity Miscellaneous
Theme Art and Literature
Keywords customs, contract, clothes, merchant, social class, construction, furniture
Region Europe
Copyright William Hogarth, Marriage A-la-Mode: 1, The Marriage Settlement, © The National Gallery, London.