Fine Art Framed
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The same fine art print in a solid wood frame with UV-protective acrylic glaze and rigid backing. Five frame colours. Arrives ready to hang.
The Reward of Cruelty - William Hogarth
Regular price
$220.00 NZD
Sale price
$220.00 NZD
Regular price
Archival giclée
Frames arrive ready to hang
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Made to order
Description
The final plate of William Hogarth's The Four Stages of Cruelty, this 1751 engraving depicts the grim anatomical dissection of the criminal Tom Nero.
The Reward of Cruelty is the final plate in William Hogarth's series, The Four Stages of Cruelty, published in 1751. This work depicts the post-mortem dissection of Tom Nero, a character who progresses from torturing animals to committing murder. Hogarth intended this series to serve as a moral warning against the brutal treatment of animals and the subsequent descent into human violence. The scene takes place in a lecture theatre at the Surgeons' Hall. A surgeon presides over the dissection, while other figures observe the procedure with varying degrees of interest or indifference. The composition is dense with macabre detail: a dog gnaws on a human heart in the foreground, while the intestines of the deceased are being removed and placed into a bucket. Skeletons of previous criminals, identified as James Field and Macleane, loom in the background, reinforcing the theme of inevitable retribution. Hogarth employs a sharp, linear style characteristic of his printmaking. The etching captures the clinical yet grotesque atmosphere of the anatomical theatre. The figures are rendered with exaggerated features, a common device in Hogarth's social commentary to convey character flaws or moral decay. The inclusion of text at the bottom of the print provides a didactic summary of the narrative, warning the viewer of the consequences of a life devoid of empathy. This print reflects the mid-eighteenth-century public fascination with anatomy and the legal reality that the bodies of executed criminals were often surrendered to surgeons for dissection. By linking the act of cruelty to this final, public humiliation, Hogarth creates a narrative arc that concludes with the total degradation of the protagonist. The work remains a significant example of British satirical art, demonstrating Hogarth's ability to combine social critique with detailed, narrative-driven imagery.
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Because every print is made to order, we don't offer change-of-mind returns, refunds or exchanges. If your order arrives faulty, damaged or incorrect, we'll replace it free of charge — just contact us within 48 hours of delivery. See our refunds page for full details.
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We ship worldwide, printing at the production hub nearest to your delivery address. Delivery times and costs vary by destination — you'll see the options available to you at checkout.
Manufacturing
Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
To keep your artwork looking its best:
- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
- Handle prints with clean, dry hands
Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Complete The Look
The Reward of Cruelty - William Hogarth
Regular price
From $130.00 NZD
Sale price
From $130.00 NZD
Regular price
Fine Art Framed / A4 (21x29.7 cm) / Black frame
Artist Biography
William Hogarth
Hogarth invented the comic strip three hundred years early. A Rake's Progress (1733) and A Harlot's Progress (1732) are narrative sequences of paintings and prints that tell moral stories through sequential images, each one packed with visual detail that rewards close reading. The drunk in the tavern, the debtor in prison, the madman in Bedlam: each scene is a chapter. Together they form a novel in pictures.
He was born in Smithfield, London, near the meat market. His father, a schoolteacher, was imprisoned for debt when William was a child. The experience of debtors' prison appears throughout his work. He apprenticed to a silver engraver and taught himself painting by copying old masters and observing London street life with the attention of a novelist.
He was shrewd about money and copyright. The Engraving Copyright Act of 1735 ('Hogarth's Act') was passed largely through his lobbying. It gave printmakers legal ownership of their designs for the first time, preventing pirated copies. He was protecting his income: the popular prints were his main revenue source.
He painted portraits, historical scenes, and the extraordinary Shrimp Girl, an unfinished head study of a street vendor that anticipates Impressionism by a century. The brushwork is loose, fresh, and immediate. It does not look like anything else painted in the 1740s. He also wrote The Analysis of Beauty (1753), a treatise on aesthetics that argued beauty derived from serpentine lines, which was mocked but was not wrong.
He died in 1764, at sixty-six. He is buried in Chiswick, west London. His tomb has a modest inscription. His influence on British satirical art, from Gillray to Banksy, has no inscription and no end.
He was born in Smithfield, London, near the meat market. His father, a schoolteacher, was imprisoned for debt when William was a child. The experience of debtors' prison appears throughout his work. He apprenticed to a silver engraver and taught himself painting by copying old masters and observing London street life with the attention of a novelist.
He was shrewd about money and copyright. The Engraving Copyright Act of 1735 ('Hogarth's Act') was passed largely through his lobbying. It gave printmakers legal ownership of their designs for the first time, preventing pirated copies. He was protecting his income: the popular prints were his main revenue source.
He painted portraits, historical scenes, and the extraordinary Shrimp Girl, an unfinished head study of a street vendor that anticipates Impressionism by a century. The brushwork is loose, fresh, and immediate. It does not look like anything else painted in the 1740s. He also wrote The Analysis of Beauty (1753), a treatise on aesthetics that argued beauty derived from serpentine lines, which was mocked but was not wrong.
He died in 1764, at sixty-six. He is buried in Chiswick, west London. His tomb has a modest inscription. His influence on British satirical art, from Gillray to Banksy, has no inscription and no end.
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Canvas
From $130
Hand-stretched canvas with neat gallery-wrapped edges, giving the artwork surface texture and depth. Arrives ready to hang.
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