Tailpiece, or the Bathos

Prints and Drawings

April 1764

William Hogarth
English, 1697-1764

William Hogarth was an English painter and engraver notorious for his biting political satire. He also discovered that artists could become independent of patronage by making engravings of their own paintings and selling them to the public. Hogarth created The Bathos toward the end of his life. It is considered one of the bleakest artworks of the 18th century because it depicts the Apocalypse without an afterlife. The Angel of Death even collapses in exhaustion after having destroyed the world. In his hand is an execution decree and around him lies a mass of broken objects.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: William Hogarth
Title: Tailpiece, or the Bathos
Place: England (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1764
Medium: Etching and engraving in black on cream wove paper
Dimensions: Plate: 31.5 × 33.5 cm (12 7/16 × 13 1/4 in.); Sheet: 42.2 × 47.2 cm (16 5/8 × 18 5/8 in.)
Credit Line: The Charles Deering Collection
Reference Number: 1314.1930
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/132733/manifest.json

Paulson 1989: 216 I/I

Paulson 1965/70: 216 I/I

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.