The New Metamorphosis, Plate 4: Invidiosa Releases Fantasio 1723 - 1724

William Hogarth created "The New Metamorphosis, Plate 4: Invidiosa Releases Fantasio" as an engraving on a sheet sometime in the 18th century. The visual experience is dominated by the stark contrast between the dense cross-hatching that defines the shadowy interior and the comparatively sparse rendering of figures. This dramatic interplay of light and dark intensifies the scene's emotional weight, setting a stage for an eerie narrative to unfold. The structure of the image, divided into a dark, witchy space on the left and a relatively clearer space on the right, invites a reading rooted in semiotics. On the left we see figures of the old crones, standing behind a fire, and the right, a man liberating a child, presumably Fantasio. The use of hatching, combined with linear elements, may signify a broader socio-cultural anxiety about class boundaries, and power structures. Hogarth invites us to reflect on the instability of meaning, suggesting that appearances can be deceiving and that the world is not always as it seems. The formal tension between the graphic clarity and the narrative complexity challenges viewers to question the authority of visual representation and consider the multiple layers of interpretation.