William Hogarth, best known for his sardonic prints of eighteenth-century London, can be credited with the invention of the British satirical print genre. The character of the “rake”—a wealthy, often aristocratic, male addicted to gambling, womanizing, and indecent behavior—was a popular stock role in English Restoration comedies of the seventeenth century. By Hogarth’s time, the term had taken on a moralizing tone, representing a life of total ethical depravity that often ended in debtor’s prison or insanity. In this series of eight engravings with narrative texts—four of which are exhibited here—Hogarth traced the decline and fall of the fictional Tom Rakewell, a wealthy young man who had moved to London following the death of his miserly father, only to squander his inheritance on luxurious living, gambling, and prostitution.
\r\nPlate 8: All is finally lost as Tom writhes naked and insane on the floor of Bethlehem Hospital—London’s notorious mental asylum, popularly known as Bedlam. Only Sarah is there to comfort him, but he can no longer recognize her.
","remarks":null},{"texttype":"Online","textpurpose":"Special Exhibition","textentryhtml":"In a series of eight engravings with a narrative text called The Rake’s Progress, Hogarth related the misadventures of Tom Rakewell, a young man of means who comes to London only to squander his inheritance on luxurious living, gambling, and prostitution. This plate depicts the final scene in which Tom has lost everything, including his reason. He lies shackled and half naked on the floor of the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, an institution for the poor and mentally insane popularly known as “Bedlam” (a corruption of Bethlehem), where spectators were admitted to view the inmates for a fee as public entertainment.","remarks":"States of Health"}],"datebegin":1735,"sortnumber":"1988 37x","published_date":"2026-02-11 10:54:24.245888","objectid":37618,"dimensions":"plate: 35.7 x 40.7 cm. (14 1/16 x 16 in.)\r\nsheet: 49 × 65.5 cm (19 5/16 × 25 13/16 in.)","on_view":false}