William Hogarth
Other prints were his outcry against inhumanity in The Four Stages of Cruelty (published 21 February 1751). Hogarth depicts the cruel treatment of animals, and suggests what will happen to people who carry on in this manner. In the first picture there are scenes of torture of dogs, cats and other animals. The second shows one of the characters from the first painting, Tom Nero, has now become a coach driver, and his cruelty to his horse has caused it to break its leg. In the third painting Tom is shown as a murderer, with the woman he killed lying on the ground, while in the fourth, titled Reward of Cruelty, the murderer is shown being dissected by surgeons after his execution. The method of execution, and the dissection, reflect the 1752 Act of Parliament. This allowed the public dissection of criminals who had been executed for murder.