![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSg9WwwAkxgMol-ZUcze8t-6jOhmv9buksF6KuEiLnfLndbr-aVF6VYfY4hXTzYBxJ5TJtOeRhaY6r-ukX9Q6of36_mUzRcwSE_BUCKoIQum8vaKk1xaCVH_Qkp2nLGmECLpyOe_9y5zJ8/s400/peaceable_kingdom_002.jpg)
Peaceable Kingdom, ca. 1830–32
Edward Hicks (American, 1780–1849)
Oil on canvas; 17 7/8 x 23 7/8 in.
Edward Hicks, a Quaker preacher and sign painter, painted approximately sixty versions of the Peaceable Kingdom. The painting represents the messianic prophecy 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." The presence of additional animals and children on the left is due to Hicks' inclusion of the seventh and eighth verses. Hicks derived the composition, a popular nineteenth-century Bible illustration, from an engraving after a drawing by the English artist Richard Westall.
The theme of a peaceable community of animals was one often used as a political metaphor, and was adapted by Hicks himself. The artist sometimes included scenes of Penn's treaty with the Indians, intending Penn's flock to stand as a sort of partial fulfillment of the biblical prophecy.
Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tSbtg4WQ_QfVePOaN1UqSLAbFdyS1zmXZC2_K4ZCL7B6yCoQ38vKDWbbbnLjlWxLpymQZ8E2pfDhcqLFxU3O1M3R1JZK04VA=s0-d)
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