Wedding Procession, Miles Standish

This painting illustrates the concluding scene in Henry Wandsworth Longfellow's 1858 poem 'The Courtship of Miles Standish'. In the scene the bride, Priscilla, sits astride a snow-white bull. She and John Alden reconcile with Standish and are trailed by a group of pilgrims.

Prior to completing the work, Ehninger created 8 pencil drawings illustrating the poem which were reproduced through photography for a bound volume. An early copy of the book, once owned by the Billings, remains in the collection today.

The poem had special significance to Frederick and Julia Billings. Julia recorded in one of her diaries how much she enjoyed the day as Frederick read the poem to her during the couple's honeymoon.