The Peaceable Kingdom

Edward Hicks (1780-1849) was an American Quaker minister and folk painter whose Peaceable Kingdom paintings, based on the biblical prophecy of Isaiah, are among the most recognizable images in American art. The Peaceable Kingdom depicts Isaiah's vision of a world where predators and prey live together in harmony—the lion lying down with the lamb, the child leading wild animals—set alongside William Penn's treaty with the Lenape Indians, connecting Old Testament prophecy to Quaker history and American peace. The c. 1816-18 date makes this one of the earliest in the series of over sixty versions that Hicks painted throughout his career, and its relatively simple composition demonstrates the directness and sincerity that distinguishes the early versions from the more elaborate later ones.

The Peaceable Kingdom is one of the most iconic images in American art because it connects three strands of American identity—the biblical prophecy of peace, the Quaker commitment to nonviolence, and the American belief in a peaceful frontier. Hicks painted over sixty versions of the subject throughout his career, each one varying in composition and detail, and the series as a whole constitutes one of the most sustained meditations on peace and peaceful coexistence in the history of American painting.

The Peaceable Kingdom is Hicks's Quaker gospel in paint: Isaiah's vision of predators and prey living in harmony, combined with Penn's treaty with the Indians, making the biblical prophecy of peace into an American reality. The sixty-plus versions Hicks painted throughout his career constitute one of the most sustained meditations on peace in the history of American art.