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Peaceable Kingdom

Edward Hicks American
ca. 1830–32
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 756
The Quaker minister and painter Edward Hicks is best known for his Peaceable Kingdom pictures, of which sixty-two exist. The paintings represent a messianic prophecy in the book of Isaiah (11:6): “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; and a little child shall lead them.” During the 1820s, a severe rift formed within the Society of Friends. In this version of Hicks’s favorite motif, the split is represented by the shattered tree trunk, and the desire for peace between the factions by the menagerie of discordant beasts lying down in perfect harmony. The lion and his companion, the ox, were, for Hicks, symbols of redemption.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Peaceable Kingdom
  • Artist: Edward Hicks (American, Langhorne, Pennsylvania 1780–1849 Newtown, Pennsylvania)
  • Date: ca. 1830–32
  • Culture: American
  • Medium: Oil on canvas
  • Dimensions: 17 7/8 x 23 7/8 in. (45.4 x 60.6 cm)
  • Credit Line: Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, 1970
  • Object Number: 1970.283.1
  • Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

More Artwork
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The Falls of Niagara, Edward Hicks American, Oil on canvas, American
The Falls of Niagara
Edward Hicks
ca. 1825
Ernesta (Child with Nurse), Cecilia Beaux American, Oil on canvas, American
Ernesta (Child with Nurse)
Cecilia Beaux
1894
The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak, Albert Bierstadt American, Oil on canvas, American
The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak
Albert Bierstadt
1863
Fur Traders Descending the Missouri, George Caleb Bingham American, Oil on canvas, American
Fur Traders Descending the Missouri
George Caleb Bingham
1845
At the Seaside, William Merritt Chase American, Oil on canvas, American
At the Seaside
William Merritt Chase
ca. 1892

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