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
Before and After (Hogarth) the woman clings to the man, her bonnet and skirts disarrayed. The dog sleeps on the floor beside the overturned dressing table, its mirror lying broken on the floor. The paintings are thought to have been commissioned by John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu. The male protagonist was traditionally identified as John Willes, later Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. They were made around the time Hogarth was working on his paintings of "The Harlot's Progress". Hogarth made engravings of "Before" and "After" in 1736, around the time as Hogarth was working on his painting "Four Times of