by Leopold Augustus Egg
In 1859 Egg produced a series of three paintings called Past and Present.
Influenced by the moral paintings of William Hogarth,
the pictures tell the story of a man that Egg knew,
whose wife had been unfaithful.
In the first picture the husband discovers his wife's infidelity;
he holds the letter that has enabled him to discover the betrayal and
crushes a picture of his
wife's lover under his foot.
The second and third pictures both take place at the same moment,
five years later, after the death of the father.
One picture shows the children alone in the home,
whereas the mother is living under the Adelphi arches in London.