Marriage à la Mode, Plate 6
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Marriage à la Mode, Plate 6 is an engraving by William Hogarth, held at the Yale Center for British Art, the final scene in the six-part series Marriage à la Mode that Hogarth painted and then had engraved for wider sale between 1743 and 1745. The series follows an arranged marriage between the son of a bankrupt but titled family and the daughter of a wealthy merchant, tracing their mutual infidelity to this closing scene: the young countess dying, poisoned or otherwise ruined by the affair, her father removing her wedding ring as her infant child looks on[1]. By the time he made this series, Hogarth was already an established engraver, and the practice of issuing prints alongside the paintings, refined across earlier series such as A Harlot's Progress, gave a much wider public access to a satire aimed squarely at the moneyed and titled classes and their contracted, transactional marriages[3][4]. Because his earlier prints had been extensively pirated, he lobbied for the Engravers' Copyright Act of 1735, sometimes called Hogarth's Act, to protect his work before this series went into print[6].
Where it is held
Held at Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, United States.
Held at the Yale Center for British Art.
A story told in six scenes
The series opens with a merchant giving his daughter in marriage to a lord's son in exchange for a title, while the impoverished lord in turn offers his own son in marriage to pay his debts. By the fourth scene the young countess and her circle make clear that her husband, the viscount, is being cuckolded by the lawyer who drew up their marriage settlement. In the fifth, the reunited count and countess are shown just after the count has been fatally wounded, with the lawyer, his killer, fleeing the room. This final scene closes the story: the countess, having poisoned herself after the lawyer's execution for murder, lies dying with her infant child beside her, while her father removes her wedding ring in preparation for her death[1].
A death scene read closely
A nineteenth-century critic praised the final scene as one of Hogarth's masterpieces, singling out the contrast between the dying countess's soft, doll-like stillness and the harder details around her. The apothecary attending her is described as petulant and self-satisfied, his face and figure built, in the critic's words, on exact physiognomical principles, while a servant being reprimanded stands in an attitude of passive obedience, his disconsolate look, haggard eyes and long, melancholy livery conveying utter dismay without a word[2]. Every incidental detail in the room, down to the servant's coat, was judged to carry Hogarth's characteristic wit even in a scene of pure tragedy.
Prints to outrun the pirates
Hogarth had built his early reputation partly as an engraver, and he used prints deliberately to reach an audience far larger than the buyers of his paintings, typically selling them by subscription: customers paid in advance and received a receipt for a print to be delivered once a set number of subscriptions had been reached. His earlier prints had been so widely and cheaply copied by other printsellers that he lobbied for the Engravers' Copyright Act of 1735, protecting his ownership of a design for a fixed term, before he brought Marriage à la Mode to market as prints[6][5].
Common questions
What happens in Marriage à la Mode, Plate 6?
The countess, having poisoned herself after her lover was executed for murdering her husband, is shown dying with her infant beside her while her father removes her wedding ring[1].
What is the Marriage à la Mode series about?
An arranged marriage between the impoverished son of a titled family and the daughter of a wealthy merchant, which ends in infidelity, murder and death across six scenes[1].
Why did Hogarth make engravings of his paintings?
To reach a much wider public than the buyers of the original canvases, typically selling the prints by subscription in advance of delivery[5].
Did Hogarth take legal steps to protect his prints?
Yes. After his earlier work was widely pirated, he lobbied for the Engravers' Copyright Act of 1735, sometimes called Hogarth's Act[6].
Sources
Editorial draws on the following references, verified against the museum and public-domain image record for this work.
- [1] book Allison Lee Palmer, Historical Dictionary of Neoclassical Art and Architecture Used for: this artwork.
- [2] book William Hazlitt, Sketches of the Principal Picture-galleries in England, with a Criticism on Marriage A-la-mode Used for: this artwork.
- [3] book Susie Hodge, Art: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Artists and Their Work Used for: this artwork.
- [4] book Jennifer D. Milam, Historical Dictionary of Rococo Art Used for: this artwork.
- [5] book Ronald Paulson, in Titia Hulst (ed.), A History of the Western Art Market Used for: this artwork.
- [6] book Susie Hodge, Art Used for: this artwork.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-09-03. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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