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| A confirmed madman now, there is no other destination for the Rake than Bedlam (a famous lunatic asylum, originally called Bethlehem but later shortened to Bedlam). Hogarth has modelled the Rake's lying position on the statues of Melancholy and Raving Madness that used to be above the gates of Bedlam (and are now in the Museum of London). The picture is very dark , so it is difficult to see the figures around the Rake clearly, but several types of lunatics are represented here. Each of these reflect the sins of the Rake in their own way and ultimately the follies of the world: the mad tailor's vanity, abuse of religion by a religious maniac, his strive for power by a naked madman with a crown on his head, who is carrying a stick as a sceptre and is urinating, his greed by a man dressed as the Pope, etc. Bedlam was open to visitors, and the two women in the middle of the picture are a well-to-do lady and her maid who are pointing and laughing at the lunatics. |