A Rake's Progress, Plate 7, William Hogarth, 1735

A room in the fleet prison (after the painting at sir john soane's museum); tom sits at a table, to right, on which is a rejection letter from john rich to whom he has submitted a play; his wife clenches her fists, the gaoler asks for garnish money and a boy asks payment for a tankard of ale; to left, sarah young has fainted and is being administered smelling salts by one woman while another slaps her hand, her child clings to her skirt; she is supported by an older man with a beard who has dropped a sheet containing a scheme for paying the national debt (a reference to such a scheme put forward by hogarth's father); in the background an alchemist works at a forge. 1735 etching and engraving. Date: 1735. Dimensions: Height: 351 mm; Width: 403 mm. Medium: paper. Depicted People: John Rich. Collection: British Museum. A Rake's Progress, Plate 7 (BM S,2.48)