Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2011.

The May Queen (The Crowning of Flora)

Artist Jacob Marling (American, 1774 - 1833)

Date1816

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 30 1/8 x 39 1/8 in. (76.5 x 99.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 34 3/8 x 43 1/2 x 3 in. (87.3 x 110.5 x 7.6 cm)

ClassificationsAmerican art

Credit LineGift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch

Object number80.181.20

Terms

Men
Women
Ceremonies
Education
Schools
African-American Theme
Music
Piano
Horns
Green
White
Tan
Brown
Black
Pink
Red
Raleigh, North Carolina

Collections

American Art before 1945

On View

On view

DescriptionThis oil on canvas painting depicts a May Day pageant performed by the female pupils of the Raleigh Academy. Young ladies are gathered beneath trees; a building is in the background. A young woman sits at a piano with a few women standing beside the instrument in the background. Right from the center, a man holds a brass oboe.

Label TextJacob Marling American, 1774—1833 The May Queen (The Crowning of Flora), 1816 Oil on canvas This boisterous scene captures students at the Raleigh Academy in North Carolina on May Day celebrating a yearly rite of spring, the "Crowning of Flora," the goddess of flowers. Before the advent of public education in the South, girls from well-to-do families were taught at home by tutors or sent to private schools like the Raleigh Academy. There they were taught an array of subjects, from reading, writing, needlework, and music-making to more advanced academic disciplines such as astronomy and philosophy. Marling included a number of individual portraits in the painting. Among them is his own, in profile at right, as well as two local architectural landmarks. The red brick building with impressive double portico is the city's new bank, and the cupola of the North Carolina statehouse is visible above the trees on the right. Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch 80.181.20