Artwork
The Peaceable Kingdom
The Peaceable Kingdom is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Edward Hicks. It dates from 1817 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
About this work
Overview
Edward Hicks’ oil painting entitled The Peaceable Kingdom, completed in 1817, depicts a tranquil pastoral scene in which a variety of animals coexist without conflict. The work is part of the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it remains on display as an example of early nineteenth‑century American genre painting.
Subject & Meaning
At the centre of the composition a child in a red robe stands amid a group of animals—a lion, cow, goat, sheep and deer—each positioned close together yet appearing at ease. The juxtaposition of predator and prey, together with the innocent figure, conveys a visual allegory of harmony and moral idealism, echoing biblical visions of a world restored to peace.
Technique & Style
Hicks employed oil on canvas to render a luminous landscape, using a muted palette for the foliage and water while allowing the red garment and the animal forms to stand out. The brushwork is relatively smooth, emphasizing clarity of outline and a narrative clarity typical of folk‑inspired American painting, yet the atmospheric background suggests a modest engagement with landscape conventions of the period.
History & Provenance
The Peaceable Kingdom was painted shortly after Hicks’ conversion to the Shaker‑influenced Society of Friends, a period that inspired many of his religiously themed works. The canvas entered the Cleveland Museum of Art’s holdings through a mid‑twentieth‑century acquisition, where it has been catalogued as a representative piece of Hicks’ prolific output of peace‑themed imagery.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Edward Hicks spent his life caught between two worlds. A Quaker preacher by Sunday and a painter by weekdays, he painted signs and carriages to support his family while quietly building a body of peaceful, crowded…
