Plate two, from A Harlot's Progress

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Here Hogarth’s titular harlot, Moll Hackabout, enjoys life as the mistress of a wealthy man. In order to allow her lover, seen hiding in the background, to escape, Moll distracts the master of the house by overturning a table and enticing him with a view of her chest. The two paintings of Old Testament scenes on the wall underscore the moral depravity of Moll’s situation. Because of her careless antics and seemingly boundless sexual appetite, however, Moll will soon be returned to the brothel from which she was effectively purchased.

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