Mercy's Dream

1850

Daniel Huntington

Associated Names
Daniel Huntington

Artist, American, 1816 - 1906

This is a painting depicting an angel crowning a seated woman in a dark landscape. The angel has white wings with hints of pink and green, pale skin, and short, golden hair. They are draped in a flowing white robe, and have one hand extended upward and the other placing a golden crown on the woman's head. The woman sits below the angel, near the bottom left corner of the painting. Her eyes are closed, and she has one hand placed on her chest. She also has pale skin and golden hair, and she wears a draping white garment that hangs loosely off of her shoulders and is tied at the waist with what looks like white rope. Over her legs there appears to be a blanket in shades of coral pink and golden yellow. The background is dark, but seems to be a rocky terrain with sparse green grass and trees, under a dark sky with dramatic purple clouds and a hint of pink light emerging behind some rocky mountains on the right. The angel and woman are brightly illuminated against the dark background.

Media Options

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Artwork overview


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

(Williams, Stevens & Williams, New York); purchased c. 1850 by William Wilson Corcoran [1798-1888], Washington; gift 10 May 1869 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; acquired 2014 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1964

  • The Romantic Century, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1964, no catalogue.

1972

  • Conservation in the Museum, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 15 September-22 October 1972, unpublished checklist.

1976

  • Corcoran [The American Genius], Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 24 January-4 April 1976, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

Bibliography

1857

  • Lanman, Charles. Catalogue of W.W. Corcoran's Gallery. Washington, 1857: 5, no. 1.

2011

  • Mann III, Crawford Alexander. "Daniel Huntington, Mercy's Dream."In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 15,19-20, 96-97, 261, repro.

Wikidata ID

Q46627899

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