Raphaelle Peale’s Corn and Cantaloupe contains both recognizable national symbols and personal associations for the artist. When the painting was first shown in Philadelphia in 1814, viewers would have recognized the prominently placed corn as a crop specific to the Americas and an icon of early American history and stories.

The array of vegetables and fruit in the painting were cultivated on farms and in hothouses near the artist’s family home. The cantaloupe, an Anne Arundel melon, was named after the Maryland County where Peale’s mother was born.