Also known as Minerva Protects Pax from Mars, this large and impressive canvas, now found in London’s National Gallery, was produced as an attempt to secure peace negotiations between England and Spain, when Rubens was serving in his role as envoy to Philip IV of Spain. Due to his confident demeanour and courtly manners Rubens was quick to secure the patronage of nobles, serving on many diplomatic missions — entirely outside of his sphere as an artist — throughout his life. In 1630 he presented Peace and War to Charles I of England, the greatest art collector of the day, as a gift and the King was delighted with the painting.
The central female figure represents the Roman goddess Pax (Peace), here in her personification as Ceres, the goddess of the earth, sharing her bounty with the various figures of the foreground. As a display of her fecundity, she is illustrated as actually squirting milk from her breast into a child’s mouth. The children of the composition have been identified as portraits of the children of Rubens’ host, Sir Balthasar Gerbier, a painter-diplomat in the service of Charles I.
To the right of Pax is Minerva, goddess of wisdom. She drives away Mars, the god of war, and Alecto, the fury of war. A winged cupid and the goddess of marriage, Hymen, lead the children (the fruit of marriage) to a cornucopia, or horn of plenty. The satyr and leopard are part of the entourage of Bacchus, another fertility god and leopards draw Bacchus’ chariot. Two nymphs or maenads approach from the left, one bringing riches, the other dancing to a tambourine. A putto holds an olive wreath, a symbol of peace, and the caduceus (winged staff) of Mercury, messenger of the gods.
It is a picture of two halves, with the joys and benefits of peace celebrated in brilliant colour in the foreground, as a winged cupid and the goddess of marriage, Hymen, lead the children (the fruits of marriage) to concord. Yet, in the background of the image, the horrors and mindlessness of war are starkly depicted in gloomy hues. It is the terrifying face of Alecto, the fury of war, in the right of the canvas that strongly underlines terror of war.