The Animal Creation

Publisher Currier & Ives American
1875
Not on view
Wild and domesticate animals from the four continents gather here peacefally near a watering hole. In the foreground an elephant and a giraffe at right, and a leopard and a stag at left flank a lion with a sheep resting its foreleg across the lion's paw. Behind at right are a hyena and a donkey, then a zebra, moose, horse, antelope, fox and camels. At left we also find an armidillo, wolf, kangaroo and American buffalo, then a tiger, boar, bear, tapir and monkeys. In the center before the lake are a mouse, goat and rabbits. Beyond the lake are a crocodile, water buffalo and warthog, and various kinds of birds, including a peacock, ostrich, turkey and eagle. Animals from all parts of the earth are included in this scene which echoes Isaiah 11.6, a prophetic vision of a messianic time of peace when: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together." Artistic responses to this verse traditionally pair a lion with a lamb.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Animal Creation
  • Publisher: Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907)
  • Date: 1875
  • Medium: Hand-colored lithograph
  • Dimensions: Image: 8 11/16 × 12 13/16 in. (22 × 32.5 cm)
    Sheet: 11 13/16 × 15 7/8 in. (30 × 40.4 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Adele S. Colgate, 1962
  • Object Number: 63.550.338
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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