Understanding the Painting: Consequences of War
In my opinion, the ideal way to describe a work of art is to think of it as the voice of its artist.
By their very nature, works of art are always subjective, concealing stories within them. While some artists prefer to keep the narratives of their paintings in plain sight, others, such as Peter Paul Rubens, choose to hide them among a variety of symbols. As the audience, all that remains for us is either to perceive those stories or to interpret them according to our own perspective. In this short essay, I will examine several of the symbols Rubens employed and share what I know about this painting with you.
The painting is known by two titles in English: Consequences of the War and The Horrors of War. Rubens painted this work during Europe's tragic Thirty Years' War. It is also one of the rare paintings for which we have access to Rubens' own explanation of the symbolism used within. This explanation comes from a letter Rubens wrote to the court artist of Ferdinand II (the commissioner of the painting).
In this letter, Rubens explains that the central figure of the painting is Mars, the god of war, and that the scene takes place in front of the Temple of Janus, whose doors remained closed during times of peace. When we look at the painting, one of the first things that catches our attention is that these doors stand open. The storm clouds gathering in the background, together with the painting's colour palette, also make it clear that peace has not visited this place for a very long time.
The second main character of this painting is Venus, the Roman goddess of love. She is depicted as holding the right arm of Mars, trying to convince her 'lover' to give up on war and fighting. However, she is not the only person holding Mars. The Fury Alecto (who represents anger) is on his left side, taking Mars to what he knows best: wars. This scene represents a duality: love and fight. Yet, in the scene of war, the love loses.
If we take one final look at the painting, we can focus on the bodies lying on the ground. Each of these figures carries a different meaning. For example, in the lower right corner, you can see the suffering of architecture, because the beautiful structures created in times of peace are doomed to be destroyed during war. Finally, on the left, you can find Europe, exhausted after enduring years of countless hardships and diseases, depicted as a woman standing, clothed in black (the painting was created after the first twenty years of the war). The globe held by the child beside her (lower right side of the painting) represents Christianity, as the primary cause of all these wars was sectarian division.
