Partridges in a Landscape

Rubens Peale (1784–1865)

1864

Oil on canvas

Sewell C. Biggs bequest; 2004.479

Rubens Peale found a degree of individuality from his talented family of portraitists and landscape artists with the creation of his “Happy Family” paintings near the end of his life. Here the artist depicted a family of partridges within a landscape of the Juniata River in Pennsylvania in what was likely the 97th painting of the series. These images reaffirmed notions of familial tranquility and gender hierarchies while celebrating identifiable local landscapes.