Hogarth’s Art of Animal Cruelty : Satire, Suffering and Pictorial Propaganda

This book analyses the animal images used in William Hogarth's art, demonstrating how animals were variously depicted as hybrids, edibles, companions, emblems of satire and objects of cruelty. Beirne offers an important assessment of how Hogarth's various audiences reacted to his gruesome images and ultimately what was meant by 'cruelty'. William Hogarth, one of England's foremost artists, made extensive use of animal images - as hybrids, edibles, companions, emblems of satire and objects of cruelty. Hogarth's Art of Animal Cruelty: Satire, Suffering and Pictorial Propaganda offers an important examination of Hogarth's intentions in the Four Stages of Cruelty (1751), a series of four prints generally neglected by art historians and wrongly identified by legal historians and other scholars as a milestone in the development of animal rights. In this book, Beirne analyses how Hogarth's various audiences would have reacted to his gruesome images, and ultimately what was meant by 'cruelty' William Hogarth, One Of England's Foremost Artists, Made Extensive Use Of Animal Images - As Hybrids, Edibles, Companions, Emblems Of Satire And Objects Of Cruelty. Hogarth's Art Of Animal Cruelty: Satire, Suffering And Pictorial Propaganda Offers An Important Examination Of Hogarth's Intentions In The Four Stages Of Cruelty (1751), A Series Of Four Prints Generally Neglected By Art Historians And Wrongly Identified By Legal Historians And Other Scholars As A Milestone In The Development Of Animal Rights. In This Book, Beirne Analyses How Hogarth's Various Audiences Would Have Reacted To His Gruesome Images, And Ultimately What They And He Likely Understood By The Term 'cruelty'. 1. Introduction -- 2. Seeing Hogarth's Animal Images -- 3. Hogarth's Four Stages Of Cruelty -- 4. After Hogarth. Piers Beirne. Front Matter....Pages i-x Introduction....Pages 1-9 Seeing Hogarth’s Animal Images....Pages 10-43 Hogarth’s Four Stages of Cruelty: ‘[T]o Reform Some Reigning Vices Peculiar to the Lower Class of People’....Pages 44-98 After Hogarth....Pages 99-107 Back Matter....Pages 108-128