1732
William Hogarth English, 1697-1764
England
In this print Moll has gone from being the kept woman to a common prostitute, with markedly shabbier surroundings and a servant whose nose has been partially eaten away by syphilis. Hogarth even posted a print by her bed depicting the highwayman Macheath, antihero of the wildly popular Beggar’s Opera, to suggest the rough company she keeps. She is oblivious as magistrates enter the sparsely furnished room to arrest her.
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper