FREDERICK arrested for Debt, and thrown into Prison.

Date1787

Publisher Carington Bowles 1724 - 1793

MediumLine engraving and etching on laid paper

DimensionsOverall: 9 7/8 × 15 5/8 in (25.08 × 39.69cm)
Other (Platemark): 6 3/4 × 10 7/8 in (17.14 × 27.62cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1959-83,10

DescriptionThe lower margin reads: "FREDERICK arrested for Debt, and thrown into Prison./ Printed for & Sold by Carington Bowles,/ N.o 69 St. Paul's Church Yard, London./ Published as the Act directs, 31 August, 1787."Label TextThe tenth of twelve prints representing the "Contrast between Virtue and Vice exhibited in the Characters of Two Brothers." This print is a continuation of the moral narrative that chronicles the fates of two brothers named Charles and Frederick, who travel down different paths after receiving their inheritance. What follows is a cautionary tale about virtue and vice, a popular topic of prints like William Hogarth's "Modern Moral Conversations" or those depicting the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Frederick is arrested and imprisoned for debt. His cell is sparsely furnished with a small bested, broken chair, table, broken jug, bottle, and table. There are large holes in the plaster and the window has bars. The jailer is at the door with his keys in the keyhole.