Marriage à-la-mode: 4. The Toilette
Encyclopedia
The Toilette is the fourth canvas in the series of six satirical paintings known as Marriage à-la-mode painted by William Hogarth
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The old Earl has died and the son is now the new Earl and his wife, the Countess. As was the very height of fashion at the time, the Countess is holding a "Toilette", or reception, in her bedroom.
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
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The old Earl has died and the son is now the new Earl and his wife, the Countess. As was the very height of fashion at the time, the Countess is holding a "Toilette", or reception, in her bedroom.
Commentary
- The coronetCoronetA coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. Unlike a crown, a coronet never has arches.The word stems from the Old French coronete, a diminutive of coronne , itself from the Latin corona .Traditionally, such headgear is – as indicated by the German equivalent...
over the bed and over the dressing table mirror indicate that the old Earl has died and the son is now Earl Squanderfield. The wife is now Countess Squanderfield. - The lawyer Silvertongue is lounging on the sofa, with his shoes off and his feet up. He clearly feels at home and in familiar surroundings.
- Although there are other guests in the room, the Countess has her back to them, totally absorbed by Silvertongue.
- Silvertongue is making an assignation with the Countess, showing her a ticket to a masquerade and pointing to a painting of a masquerade on a screen behind the sofa. The intention being that, as the guests will be wearing masks and therefore unidentifiable, the Countess and Silvertongue can safely attend together.
- The Countess is now a mother as, hanging on the back of her chair, is a rope of coral, used by teething children. However, the child is not in the picture, suggesting a lack of maternal instinct.
- The book on the sofa by Silvertongue's feet is The Sofa, the licentious and popular novel by CrébillonClaude Prosper Jolyot de CrébillonClaude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon was a French novelist.Born in Paris, he was the son of a famous tragedian, Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon. He received a Jesuit education at the elite Lycée Louis-le-Grand...
- A Swiss valet-de-chambre is attending to the Countess's hair.
- On the left there is an opera singer, based upon either Giovanni CarestiniGiovanni CarestiniGiovanni Carestini was an Italian castrato of the 18th century, who sang in the operas and oratorios of George Frideric Handel...
or possibly FarinelliFarinelliFarinelli , was the stage name of Carlo Maria Broschi, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.- Early years :...
, both celebrated Italian castratoCastratoA castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...
opera singers. - The flutist is based upon Weideman, a well known flutist of the time and music-teacher to George IIIGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. - The gentleman in Blue has curl papers in his hair. He is based upon Herr Michel, the Prussian Envoy.
- The lady in white is overcome by music and singing. She is based upon Mrs Lane-Fox, later Lady Bingley, who was known to have a passion for Italian music.
- The two Old MasterOld Master"Old Master" is a term for a European painter of skill who worked before about 1800, or a painting by such an artist. An "old master print" is an original print made by an artist in the same period...
paintings on the right wall show Lot and his DaughtersBiblical references to incestIncest in the Bible does not entirely overlap with the definition of incest in many modern nations. A few books of the Bible, particularly the early parts of the Torah, contain narratives in which certain individuals, from the same family as one another, engage in sexual intercourse together; while...
, a Biblical reference to incest, and Jupiter and IoJupiter and IoJupiter and Io is a painting by the Italian late Renaissance artist Antonio Allegri da Correggio. It is housed in the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna, Austria.-History:...
(after CorreggioAntonio da CorreggioAntonio Allegri da Correggio , usually known as Correggio, was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sensuous works of the 16th century...
), a mythological reference to seduction. - The lower picture on the left wall is another Old Master, Rape of GanymedeGanymede (mythology)In Greek mythology, Ganymede is a divine hero whose homeland was Troy. Homer describes Ganymede as the most beautiful of mortals. In the best-known myth, he is abducted by Zeus, in the form of an eagle, to serve as cup-bearer in Olympus. Some interpretations of the myth treat it as an allegory of...
(after MichelangeloMichelangeloMichelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
), a mythological reference to homosexual seduction. - The upper left painting is the lawyer himself, Silvertongue. Clearly, the new Earl has not visited his wife's bedroom for a long time.
- The black page boy in the bottom right corner is examining a collection of hideous ornaments (similar to those on the mantelpiece in the second painting), purchased at the sale of Timothy Babyhouse, Esquire. He points to the horns on a statue of ActaeonActaeonActaeon , in Greek mythology, son of the priestly herdsman Aristaeus and Autonoe in Boeotia, was a famous Theban hero. Like Achilles in a later generation, he was trained by the centaur Chiron....
, with an impish grin: he knows what the lady of the house has been up to (horns are a symbol of cuckoldry). - Scattered on the floor on the left are a number of invitations: "Lady Squader's company is desired at Lady Townly's drum next Monday;" "Lady Squander's company is desired at Lady Heatham's drum-major next Sunday" and "Lady Squander's company is desired at Miss Hairbrain's rout," (Hogarth making a joke with the sequence "drum," "drum-major" and "rout"). There is also a note, "Count Basset begs to no how Lade Squander sleapt last nit."
Other paintings in the Marriage à-la-mode series
- Go back to Marriage à-la-mode: 3. The InspectionMarriage à-la-mode: 3. The InspectionThe Inspection is the third canvas in the series of six satirical paintings known as Marriage à-la-mode painted by William Hogarth.The Viscount, suffering from syphilis, makes a visit to a French doctor.-Details:...
- Go on to Marriage à-la-mode: 5. The BagnioMarriage à-la-mode: 5. The BagnioThe Bagnio is the fifth canvas in the series of six satirical paintings known as Marriage à-la-mode painted by William Hogarth.The new Earl catches his wife with her lover, Silvertongue, and is fatally wounded by the scoundrel who makes his escape through the window.This episode takes place in the...
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