The Rake's Progress The Rake's Progress The Rake's Progress is an English-language opera in three acts and an epilogue by Igor Stravinsky. The libretto, written by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman, is based loosely on the eight paintings and engravings "A Rake's Progress" (1733–1735) of William Hogarth, which Stravinsky had seen on 2 May 1947, in a Chicago exhibition. The story concerns the decline and fall of one Tom Rakewell, who deserts Anne Trulove for the delights of London in the company of Nick Shadow, who turns out to be the Devil. After several misadventures, all initiated by the devious Shadow, Tom
Pierre L'Enfant (painter) Pierre L'Enfant (painter) Pierre L'Enfant (August 26, 1704 – June 23, 1787) was an 18th-century French painter whose son, Pierre Charles, designed the basic plan for Washington, D.C. L'Enfant was born in Anet on August 26, 1704. After studying under Charles Parrocel, he was admitted as an "adémicien" to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1745. His specialties were battle scenes and landscapes; his most famous of his paintings were those depicting the War of the Austrian Succession: especially a series of panoramas tracing the war in the Low Countries between 1744 and 1748. The Palace of Versailles