ARTWORKS

The Marriage Contract

William Hogarth (1697–1764)

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

The Marriage Contract

Image credit: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

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This enigmatic painting of the early 1730s contains elements later incorporated into three of the series, 'A Rake's Progress', for which the paintings (Sir John Soane's Museum, London) were completed in 1734 and the engravings published in June 1735. The scene takes place in a prosperous household. The father, seated in the centre, is joining his daughter's hand to that of the young man on the right, who turns away to read a letter. A jockey indicates other distractions for the young man. The marriage is clearly doomed. The painting has suffered a disastrous cleaning in the nineteenth century and many parts of it are repainted.

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Oxford

Read more on Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Title

The Marriage Contract

Date

early 1730s

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 62 x W 75 cm

Accession number

WA1952.63

Acquisition method

Bequeathed by Sir Robert Witt, through the Art Fund, 1952

Work type

Painting

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Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Beaumont Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 2PH England

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Artist or maker

William Hogarth

1697–1764

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