A series of six paintings by William Hogarth, done between 1743 and 1745 and currently all hang in the National Gallery in London, showing a serialized tale of a disastrous arranged marriage, between the son of a bankrupt "old money" nobleman and the daughter of a wealthy "new money" merchant.
The paintings:
1. The Marriage Settlement, the two families meet and the marriage is arranged, the bride looks very distraught at the whole thing.
2. The Tête à Tête or The Breakfast Scene the young couple appears to be having breakfast and appear to be very uninterested in each other. The place is a wreck from a party held the night before.
3. The Inspection the husband accompanied by a prostitute visits a doctor who discovers the man has signs of syphilis.
4. The Toilette the husband's father has died and the husband and wife are now an Earl and a Countess. Seen here the countess holds a toilette or reception in her bedroom.
5. The Bagnio The Earl catches his wife with her lover and is stabbed as the lover flees, the painting shows the Countess begging for forgiveness from her wounded and dying husband.
6. The Lady's Death The Countess has poisoned herself following her lover being hanged for murdering her husband.
Hogarth painted this series as a cautionary tale about the dangers of arranged marriages and marrying for money. He was planning on painting another series called "A Happy Marriage", but only some preliminary sketches for the series survive.
Sources:
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_%C3%A0-la-mode