Edward Hicks
American
Edward Hicks was a prominent Pennsylvania member of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers, who believe in a direct, personal relationship with God. The Quaker values of equality, peace, and simplicity informed the subjects he chose to paint, and he is best remembered for his composition The Peaceable Kingdom, of which he produced more than 60 versions. He was not formally trained as an artist—he mainly made his living as a painter of shop signs.
Born
1780
Died
1849
What does peace mean to you?
The Peaceable Kingdom was inspired by the biblical text Isaiah 11:6–9: “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.” In the background, Hicks’s depiction of William Penn’s 1682 purchase agreement with the native Lenape people, which ensured the future of the Pennsylvania colony, served as a model of a peaceable kingdom on earth.
Medium
Oil on canvas
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller 3rd
Item ID
1993.35.14
Dimensions
25 x 28 1/2 in. (63.5 x 72.4 cm)
Date
ca. 1846
Country
Artist name
Edward Hicks