3-075-635 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Mrs. Bradford Ripley Alden and her Children, 1852. Portrait of Ann Caroline Coleman Alden (1817-1896), and her children Robert Percy and Sarah, in their home at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Her husband, Captain Bradford Ripley Alden, was commander of a frontier garrison on the Columbia River (Washington State). The dress sword leaning against an upturned chair symbolises Captain Alden's absence, and simultaneously suggests that his son has been playing fort. A dog, conventional emblem of fidelity, looks protectively towards the captain's wife and children. Holding a large family Bible, Mrs. Ripley looks lovingly to her left, where her son - not yet in trousers - is kissing his baby sister. The hearth behind symbolises familial warmth.