Inspection. The 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. A black patch on the viscount's neck is Hogarth's device for signifying the Viscount is suffering from syphilis.
The French doctor is based upon Dr. Rock. His surgery was at 96, St. Martins Lane, Westminster, London.
The taller woman is opening a clasp knife and is turning away from the viscount whom she clearly dislikes. Commentators variously identify her as the child's mother, the doctor's assistant or another prostitute.
According to one interpretation, if she were the child's mother, Hogarth would have almost certainly placed mother and child together. But according to the analysis of Judy Egerton, the curator of the National Gallery's exhibition, the interpretation is very different: The viscount has brought the child to the doctor because he believes he has infected her with syphilis. The woman with the knife is the girl's mother, feigning anger in order to blackmail the viscount, who is being set up. The child already had the disease when her mother sold her to him, either because he was not her first protector or because she inherited the illness from her syphilitic father, who is the quack doctor. The cabinet on the left has shelves crammed with apothecary's pots and
The viscount, suffering from syphilis, makes a visit to a French doctor. A black patch on the viscount's neck is Hogarth's device for signifying the Viscount is suffering from syphilis.
The French doctor is based upon Dr. Rock. His surgery was at 96, St. Martins Lane, Westminster, London.
The taller woman is opening a clasp knife and is turning away from the viscount whom she clearly dislikes. Commentators variously identify her as the child's mother, the doctor's assistant or another prostitute.
According to one interpretation, if she were the child's mother, Hogarth would have almost certainly placed mother and child together. But according to the analysis of Judy Egerton, the curator of the National Gallery's exhibition, the interpretation is very different: The viscount has brought the child to the doctor because he believes he has infected her with syphilis. The woman with the knife is the girl's mother, feigning anger in order to blackmail the viscount, who is being set up. The child already had the disease when her mother sold her to him, either because he was not her first protector or because she inherited the illness from her syphilitic father, who is the quack doctor. The cabinet on the left has shelves crammed with apothecary's pots and
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