The Race for Wealth 4/5: Judgement

This is the penultimate plate in 'The Race for Wealth', William Powell Frith's successful modern series depicting a vice of contemporary society and its consequences for all concerned. Financial 'speculation, and the destruction that so often attends the indulgence of it' are, as Frith himself acknowledged, the subject of this series.

In this print the speculator, likened by the artist to a 'spider' who traps 'flies', is on trial at the Central Criminal Court for fraud. In the preceding three images in the series, the 'flies' were shown being ensnared by the 'spider' and later learning of their investments being lost. As the title of the print suggests, it is judgement day and the spider, depicted here in the dock, is finally getting his comeuppance.

For this print, after a painting, the artist took great pains to faithfully represent the scene. As well as taking photographs and measurements of the courtroom, Frith asked his friend, the judge Sir John Huddleston, to don his robes and pose as a model for the judge. Other court officials seen in the print were also portrayed from life. The print includes a number of characters who were depicted in the previous three plates, including the man and two women who observe the proceedings from a bench in the bottom right corner.

'The Race for Wealth' followed the success of 'The Road to Ruin', another series of paintings and prints by the artist with a modern, moral narrative. Frith's series were clearly influenced by those of his predecessor's, the 18th century artist William Hogarth, which included 'Industry and Idleness' and 'The Rake's Progress'.