Stages of Cruelty [SEP] creator
Stages of Cruelty
Stages of Cruelty is an oil-on-canvas painting by Ford Madox Brown. He worked on the painting over an extended period, from 1856 to 1890. It is held by the Manchester Art Gallery.
The painting was originally entitled Stolen Pleasures are Sweet, but became "Stages of Cruelty" by about 1860. The composition was inspired by Arthur Hughes's 1856 painting "April Love", which shows a woman turning away from her lover after an argument, and also by William Hogarth's
The Four Stages of Cruelty
The Four Stages of Cruelty is a series of four printed engravings published by English artist William Hogarth in 1751. Each print depicts a different stage in the life of the fictional Tom Nero.
Beginning with the torture of a dog as a child in the "First stage of cruelty", Nero progresses to beating his horse as a man in the "Second stage of cruelty", and then to robbery, seduction, and murder in "Cruelty in perfection". Finally, in "