著者

森 洋子

出版者

美学会

雑誌

美学 (ISSN:05200962)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.34, no.4, pp.25-40, 1984

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David Garrick dedicated for Hogarth's tombstone an epitaph with the inspired words, "pictur'd Morals". The present author interprets these words as being the embodiment and the key to Hogarth's art. This paper will discuss how Hogarth intended to warn - and to preach to - viewers of his prints about human vices that could be traced back to the medieval Christian iconography of "Seven Deadly Sins". For this purpose Hogarth chose the subject matter of his prints from topics of contemporary newspapers and journals, that is, "modern moral Subject". In my opinion "Pride" can be found in The Bench ; while "Gluttony" in Plate VII of Industry and Idleness, may have been inspired by Bruegel's Fat Kitchen. "Luxury" is one of the main vices in Hogarth's Progresses. The marriage of the Rake with an old, one-eyed, rich but ugly maid reminds one of the Northern tradition of "an unequal couple" of which the most popular pictures were painted by Cranach. Also, Hogarth's A Rake's Progress might be compared with Jacques Callot's series The Prodigal Son which faithfully illustrated a well-known parable. However, Callot's Prodigal Son has a happy ending, while Hogarth leads his Rake-and most of his other protagonists-to a tragic death as a result of their vices. Finally the author will point out that the works of Hogarth's contemporary, Jonathan Richardon (The Theory of Painting, Essay on the Art of Criticism and The Science of a Connoisseur), may have been theoretical sources for Hogarth's notion of the utility of painting, namely for the entertainment and the improvement of the mind. Previous authors have seemingly overlooked this important relationship.