It's my birthday...

To celebrate,* I'll post about that picture that hung in my nursery shortly after I was born:

5 good things about The Peaceable Kingdom (1846):

1. The lion's mane. I loved that lion when I was a wee thing, and because that mane had much the same color and waviness level as my own hair, I adopted the alternate personality of "Acey the Lioness" (I did not know, at two, or so, that lionesses did not have manes). Later, "Acey" evolved into my imaginary human friend. Acey liked to make up recipes, and her mother drove a racing truck. Imagine my slight squee, when, after losing track of Doctor Who for a while, I turned on a random episode, and discovered a new Doctor talking to a companion named "Ace," who like to cook things up (even though those things were just a smidge more fiery than onion and black pepper soup).



2. The casual postures of the animals in the foreground, especially the wolf and the leopard. You probably can't see it, in this small a representation, but if you stand close to the actual picture, and look carefully, you'll see that the wolf's tongue is lolling out of his mouth slightly off-center, in real, relaxed canine fashion. Also, if you look closely, you'll see that he acurately painted the pads and claw sheaths on the bottom of the leopard's hind paw.



3. The fact that Edward Hicks did about sixty versions of this painting in his lifetime -- the same animals (pretty much) in all of them, but each painting is also very different. This is one of the later versions, and the boy with the olive branch, representing the Christ, has moved further into the background than where he was in the earlier paintings. Now, young women and a toddler are front and center.



4. The squirminess of said toddler... he's playing with a viper in his hand, illustrating how all creatures are now living in peace. But, the young woman watching him still has a concerned look on her face, as in: "Don't pester the eagle while it's eating, Dear." So the animals are at peace, but they're not domesticated (nor is the toddler perfectly well-behaved, either, for that matter).



5. The legal and trade meeting going on with the men in the background includes Native Americans, so Edward Hicks is acknowledging that there are POC in the world, and they're part of this, too.

*To celebrate, I'll also order my dinner to be delivered -- with extra dessert.