Plate five, from A Harlot's Progress

1732, reworked/reissued 1744 · Print

May one see it?

Not receiving at present

Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.

Checked: 2 days ago
In this state since: Aug 19, 2026
Source: The museum's own collection data

On the map Museum page

About the work

Hogarth engraved these six copper plates (1964.254–59) with a burin, a sharp metal tool used to incise swelling lines directly into a flattened copper surface. He worked in reverse of the final printed images, which were produced by inking the plates and running them through a roller press with dampened sheets of paper on top. The small cross at the bottom of each plate was added when Hogarth issued the second state, released over a decade after the first, much copied edition. The prints on view nearby are early second state impressions, made before the addition of other changes and noticeable wear.

Art Institute of ChicagoCC BY 4.0

Particulars

Accession number: 1964.258

In the catalog

Prints Engraving Rococo 18th century England

Sources

Art Institute of Chicago: the museum's own open data · fetched 7 days ago
Image: Art Institute of Chicago — CC0

Meanwhile, in the life of William Hogarth

The whole life

1712–1764 · Workplace
London
1735
Founds the St Martin’s Lane Academy
In 1735 Hogarth founded the St Martin’s Lane Academy in London — in essence a drawing studio that grew out of a circle of painters, draughtsmen and engravers who met at Slaughter’s coffee house on St Martin’s Lane. It became a forerunner of the Royal Academy of Arts and spread new artistic ideas in England.
25 June 1735
“Hogarth’s Act”: copyright for engravings
When the success of the two series produced numerous pirated copies, Hogarth lobbied Parliament for a law protecting engravers: the Engravers’ Copyright Act, known as “Hogarth’s Act”, became law on 25 June 1735 — the first copyright law to cover visual works and to recognise the authorial rights of an individual artist.
1743 · Workplace
Paris

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