Two prints from the "Four Stages of Cruelty".The "First Stage of Cruelty" describes the cruelty of unsupervised boys. In the center Tom Nero (holding onto the post and wearing a wide brimmed hat) and an accomplice are plunging an arrow into the rectum of a dog. The "Second Stage of Cruelty", Tom Nero has reached adulthood and become a hackney coach driver. He is seen doing what he did in his childhood, mercilessly beating his horse because it collapsed carrying a load of too many overweight barristers.
Copper engraving. Uncoloured.
Size: 32.5 x 40 cm. (13 x 15½ inches)