The First Stage of Cruelty (The Four Stages of Cruelty)

Art Historical Context

William Hogarth's *The First Stage of Cruel*, etched and engraved in 1751, opens his powerful series *The Four Stages of Cruel*. As a pioneering English artist and satirist, Hogarth prints to deliver biting social commentary during the Enlightenment era, blending moral instruction with vivid realism. This-state impression captures the grim beginnings of vice: young boys—likely street urchins or apprentices—tormenting cats, dogs, and chickens in a chaotic London scene, foreshadowing a descent into adult depravity across the four plates. Printed on a modest scale (plate: 15¼ × 12⅝ in.), the etching and engraving technique allowed Hogarth to achieve intricate detail and mass production at low cost, targeting working-class audiences like the poor and youth he sought to reform. Sold for mere pennies, these prints warned that unchecked cruelty to animals leads inexorably to crime, dissection, and the gallows—reflecting 18th-century anxieties over urban poverty, juvenile delinquency, and public morality. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Sarah Lazarus, 1891), this work exemplifies Hogarth's "modern moral subjects," influencing later social reform art. Visitors are drawn to its unflinching humanity, urging reflection on compassion's roots.

About the Artist

William Hogarth · 1697–1764

William Hogarth (1697-1764) was an English painter, printmaker, and pictorial satirist who became the first great English-born artist to attract admiration abroad. Born into poverty in London, the son of a failed schoolmaster who was imprisoned for debt, Hogarth's early experiences with the harsh realities of 18th-century urban life profoundly shaped his artistic vision. After apprenticing with si...