Byzantine_K
The Reward of Cruelty
Today, February 1st 2012, has seen one of the vilest spectacles in recent British political history as Conservative and most Liberal Democrat MPs vote to overturn amendments which may have lessened some of the cruelest and most despicable acts of this governments so called Welfare Reform Bill.
The image is taken from the 4th and final in a short series of engravings by William Hogarth entitled "The Four Stages of Cruelty", which depicts the downward spiral of the vile fictional character of Tom Nero.
"Beginning with the torture of a dog as a child in the First stage of cruelty, Nero progresses to beating his horse as a man in the Second stage of cruelty, and then to robbery, seduction, and murder in Cruelty in Perfection. Finally, in The Reward of Cruelty, he receives what Hogarth warns is the inevitable fate of those who start down the path Nero has followed: his body is taken from the gallows after his execution as a murderer and is mutilated by surgeons in the anatomical theatre".
The barberous treatment of animals and later humans is reflected in this governments increasingly barberous treatment of the sick and disabled, and all else, on benefits - in particular the actions of Iain Duncan Smith, David Cameron and Chris Grayling.
In the engraving, "The dissectors, their hearts hardened after years of working with cadavers, are shown to have as much feeling for the body as Nero had for his victims; his eye is put out just as his horse's was, and a dog feeds on his heart, taking a poetic revenge for the torture inflicted on one of its kind in the first plate".
Sadly in reality, the rewards for Iain Duncan Smith and his repulsive ilk are likely to be far, far less deserving.
I'm not happy - does it show!
The Reward of Cruelty
Today, February 1st 2012, has seen one of the vilest spectacles in recent British political history as Conservative and most Liberal Democrat MPs vote to overturn amendments which may have lessened some of the cruelest and most despicable acts of this governments so called Welfare Reform Bill.
The image is taken from the 4th and final in a short series of engravings by William Hogarth entitled "The Four Stages of Cruelty", which depicts the downward spiral of the vile fictional character of Tom Nero.
"Beginning with the torture of a dog as a child in the First stage of cruelty, Nero progresses to beating his horse as a man in the Second stage of cruelty, and then to robbery, seduction, and murder in Cruelty in Perfection. Finally, in The Reward of Cruelty, he receives what Hogarth warns is the inevitable fate of those who start down the path Nero has followed: his body is taken from the gallows after his execution as a murderer and is mutilated by surgeons in the anatomical theatre".
The barberous treatment of animals and later humans is reflected in this governments increasingly barberous treatment of the sick and disabled, and all else, on benefits - in particular the actions of Iain Duncan Smith, David Cameron and Chris Grayling.
In the engraving, "The dissectors, their hearts hardened after years of working with cadavers, are shown to have as much feeling for the body as Nero had for his victims; his eye is put out just as his horse's was, and a dog feeds on his heart, taking a poetic revenge for the torture inflicted on one of its kind in the first plate".
Sadly in reality, the rewards for Iain Duncan Smith and his repulsive ilk are likely to be far, far less deserving.
I'm not happy - does it show!