Artwork
Mercy's Dream
Mercy's Dream is an oil painting by the American Folk Art artist Daniel Huntington. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Technique & Style
The painting's substantial dimensions suggest it was intended for prominent display, aligning with its acquisition history by major Washington, D.
Mercy's Dream is an oil painting executed on a canvas support by Daniel Huntington in 1850. The work measures 227.65 cm in height and 167.64 cm in width, indicating a large-scale composition typical of mid-19th-century academic history painting. While the specific handling of the brushwork and the current physical condition of the surface are not detailed in the available records, the medium of oil paint on canvas was the standard material for serious genre and allegorical works of this period.
The painting's substantial dimensions suggest it was intended for prominent display, aligning with its acquisition history by major Washington, D.C. institutions.
History & Provenance
The painting was commissioned and completed in 1850 by Daniel Huntington. Shortly after its creation, it entered the collection of William Wilson Corcoran, who acquired it through the New York firm Williams, Stevens & Williams around 1850. Corcoran gifted the work to the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington on 10 May 1869.
The painting remained in the Corcoran’s holdings until 2014, when it was transferred to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as part of the Gallery’s acquisition of the Corcoran’s collection.
The work is held by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., as accession NGA 2014.136.112, where it entered following the 2014 acquisition of the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s holdings. It was previously owned by William Wilson Corcoran, who purchased it circa 1850 from the New York firm Williams, Stevens & Williams and later gifted it to the Corcoran Gallery of Art on 10 May 1869.
No exhibition history is provided in the cited sources.
Context
Daniel Huntington painted Mercy's Dream in 1850, an oil on canvas work now held by the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.. The painting entered the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1869 as a gift from collector William Wilson Corcoran and was later acquired by the National Gallery of Art in 2014. Huntington, a prominent 19th-century American artist known for literary and religious subjects, created this piece during a period when American religious painting was gaining prominence alongside Hudson River School landscapes.
Overview
Daniel Huntington’s 1850 oil on canvas entitled Mercy’s Dream presents a solitary figure in repose. The composition centers on a sleeping woman whose tranquil expression and gently folded hands convey a moment of quiet withdrawal. The painting’s muted, shadowed palette contributes to an overall atmosphere of stillness, inviting viewers to contemplate the intimate pause.
Subject & Meaning
The work depicts a lone female figure at rest, her face softened by sleep and her hands clasped delicately. This arrangement suggests a contemplative pause, perhaps alluding to themes of mercy, respite, or inner reflection. The subdued mood encourages an interpretation of the scene as a private, meditative interlude rather than a narrative episode.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Daniel Huntington (October 4, 1816 – April 19, 1906) was an American artist who belonged to the art movement known as the Hudson River School and later became a prominent portrait painter.
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