The Orgy

Hogarth's The Orgy from A Rake's Progress of 1735 depicts Tom Rakewell at the height of his dissipation in a Covent Garden brothel, surrounded by prostitutes and drunken companions, the candle being used to light a fire, the picture of The World overturned on the wall. The painting belongs to his eight-canvas series following the Rake's social trajectory from inherited wealth to madness through the stages of fashionable vice. Each canvas is dense with visual commentary and satirical observation, and The Orgy's specifically theatrical details — the company parodying historical scenes — add intellectual dimension to the moral narrative.

Hogarth fills the dimly lit tavern scene with dozens of carefully observed details of debauchery—spilled wine, stolen goods, and the varied expressions of the revelers. The warm, Rembrandtesque lighting and the precise narrative detail create a vivid image of nocturnal dissolution.