Ark at center in background at wooded area. Body of water in foreground. Pairs of animals headed toward park. Pair of giraffes at right center.
The most important task assigned to the Victorian woman was bringing up her children. Their education was a simple, narrowly focused process emphasizing standards of right and wrong. Currier & Ives created a series of “parlor prints” that were suitable for a family audience and also created images that appear to have been favored by children such as Noah’s Ark. In this biblical scene, pairs of animals line up to enter Noah’s Ark including lions, giraffes, beavers, elephants, camels and buffalo. According to the story of Noah’s Ark from the book of Genesis, God chose one righteous individual, Noah, to carry on the lineage of man. Noah is told to build an ark and to bring his wife and family on board along with as examples of all species of animals and birds, both male and female. Once the passengers were safely inside the Ark, “the rain came and continued for forty days and forty nights.” The earth was covered in water and only the creatures with Noah on the Ark were spared. According to the story, after 150 days, the flood waters receded and God displayed a great rainbow in the sky as a promise that the earth would never again be destroyed by a flood.
