A rake's progress: plate 3

Hogarth’s most exuberant scene is plate 3, depicting a long night of debauched revelry in the Rose Tavern, Drury Lane. The intoxicated group has already slashed the portraits of the Roman emperors on the wall, save that of Nero, the most depraved. A syphilitic prostitute (face patches are usually a tell-tale sign of venereal disease) slips her hand into Tom’s shirt while passing his fob watch to her accomplice seated behind. Across the table a squabbling pair spit gin into each other’s faces. The girl on the right strips down in preparation for her obscene performance in which she will pose and gyrate on the large platter that the porter is carrying through the door and about to place on the table.

Peter Raissis, Prints & drawings Europe 1500–1900, 2014