Michael Wais Jr.

Peter Paul Rubens - “Peace and War” Analysis

Text Content by Michael Wais; Copyright October 3, 2011

Peter Paul Rubens - “Peace and War”

Peter Paul Rubens’s painting Peace and War is a portrayal of a concentrated successive clock-wise cycle that is illustrative of the dialectical conflict of war and fertility.

Unlike in landscape paintings, the background is indefinite behind all of the characters. A grey and blue pattern is  far in the distance from the noblest renditions of soldiers in the center. That girded field of color is a balancing color to provide visual perspective amongst the chaos.

A multitudinous number of character types are used to portray the painting’s theme. They all vary in ages, generations, and even species. The wonderful nature of this painting is what gives it its place as a precursor to the “over-the-top” and lurid nature of the Romantic style.

At the lower-right a group of three characters are embracing each-other, probably a nuclear family. The person in the gold dress has a bun in her hair, like someone who is maternal or mature. To her left is a person who appears like a boy resting his arms- as if he is a young man who has come home from serving in battle. A girl on the left of all three is shrunken in stature, possibly indicating that she is a younger girl. They are level to each-others’ stature behind the soldier being struck, possibly indicating that they are mortals, unlike some of the more fantastic creatures to their left.

An Icarus is one that stands next to the trio. However his wings are not so visible. Unlike pointillist paintings, this is a piece that shows you more if you observe it at a closer distance. (Similarly, the hue of the Icarus at the very top of the painting incardines against the similar color value of the winding cape.) From a distance he appears only as a baby or toddler. He is to the right of a leopard. The animal does not appear overtly violent, but fairly calm. The leopard has a cone of fruit hanging above its head in a sepulchral nature. The fawn holding the fruit has a buoyant grandfatherly expression on his face as he leans in towards the group of three. The tail of the leopard is slightly out of perspective to the affect that it might belong to the fawn. Also, a silhouette under the arm of a nude appears like the horns of the fawn from a far distance.

The three nudes at the left side of the painting portray the emphasized feminine aspect of fertility and passivity. One is banging a tambourine against a black background while the one with her back turned appears to be sneaking away the noblest chalices and jewelry. The complexion of the nudes resonates the concept of fertility in an artful way, as their skin radiates in a lamp-like glow against the soldiers and torn cape.

The two Classical-styled soldiers are at the center of the painting, illustrating the conflict that divides the peace of the natural order.

(Source: myartprints.com)

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