A Rake's Progress A Rake's Progress A Rake's Progress is a series of eight paintings by 18th-century English artist William Hogarth. The canvases were produced in 1732–34, then engraved in 1734 and published in print form in 1735. The series shows the decline and fall of Tom Rakewell, the spendthrift son and heir of a rich merchant, who comes to London, wastes all his money on luxurious living, prostitution and gambling, and as a consequence is imprisoned in the Fleet Prison and ultimately Bethlem Hospital (Bedlam). The original paintings are in the collection of Sir John Soane's Museum in London, where they are
Cowdray engravings them to be "an important record of the sixteenth-century originals". Cowdray engravings The Cowdray engravings comprise five 18th-century engravings of 16th-century wall-paintings, originally commissioned by Sir Anthony Browne. The original paintings were destroyed by fire in 1793. The Cowdray engravings are based on five paintings produced for Sir Anthony Browne, King Henry VIII's Master of the Horse. They were probably produced between 1545 and 1548 and were painted onto the walls of Browne's hall in Cowdray House. They showed key scenes in his life and might have been used by him when recounting stories during formal events. The painting included