Artist: HOGARTH, William.Engraved by COOK, T.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

First Stage of Cruelty. Second Stage of Cruelty. Two prints from the "Four Stages of Cruelty".The "First Stage of Cruelty" describes the cruelty of unsupervised boys. In the center Tom Nero (holding onto the post and wearing a wide brimmed hat) and an accomplice are plunging an arrow into the rectum of a dog. The "Second Stage of Cruelty", Tom Nero has reached adulthood and become a hackney coach driver. He is seen doing what he did in his childhood, mercilessly beating his horse because it collapsed carrying a load of too many overweight barristers.

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