Consequences of War, also known as Horror of war, was executed between 1638-1639 by Peter Paul Rubens in oil paint on canvas. It was painted for Ferdinando II de' Medici. Although commissioned by an Italian, art historians characterize both the work and the artist as Flemish Baroque. It serves as a commentary on a European continent ravaged by the Thirty Years' War, and the artist employed numerous symbols, both contemporary and ancient, to deplore the state of the continent.
Mars: Mars is the central figure in the composition. The Roman god of war charges with shield and sword as well as breastplate and helmet. The figure’s skin and cape are dominated by the color red to further emphasize his identity as the Roman god.
Book and Drawing: Underneath Mars’s feet lie a book and a drawing. These represent the manner in which the arts and letters are forgotten and destroyed in the chaos and violence of war.
Temple of Janus: To the far left of the painting, the Temple of Janus appears with its door ajar. In Ancient Rome, the Temple of Janus would be closed to indicate times of peace while an open door denoted war. This phenomenon is referenced in Fasti by Ovid.
Venus: The Roman goddess of love (and Mars’s mistress) endeavors to restrain Mars and maintain peace. Her arm is looped ineffectually around his in a physical gesture. Her expression, meanwhile, plaintively entreaties Mars to stop his charge. Venus is depicted in typical Rubensian fashion with characteristic rolls of exposed flesh (See Arrival of Marie de’ Medici or The Judgment of Paris for comparison.) The goddess is accompanied by Amors and Cupids who attempt to assist her.
Fury Alekto: Alekto drags Mars on to his destructive purpose with a torch held high. Alekto was the Greek and Roman incarnation of anger. She appears in both Virgil’s Aeneid and Dante’s Inferno. Alekto translates from the Greek to “the implacable or unceasing anger.”
Pestilence and Famine: These effects of war are depicted as monsters accompanying Fury Alekto in order to heighten the terror of the scene. In addition, they deliberately refer to the apocalypse.
Harmony: Rubens depicts Harmony as a woman holding a lute. However the chaos has pushed her to the ground and broken her lute. The damage to the lute represents the discord of war.
Mother: Beside Harmony a mother clutches a child. This, Rubens writes, shows how “War corrupts and disrupts and destroys everything” including “procreation and charity.”
Architect: An architect and his instruments have similarly fallen to the ground, showing how in times of war destruction and not creation is the norm.
Arrows: Arrows lie on the ground near Venus and the Amors. When bound together they represent Concord but in their present state show its absence. Next to them lie the olive branch and caduceus, the symbols of peace. They too are depicted cast upon the ground to signify their absence in Europe.
Woman in black: The figure to Venus’s left represents Europe and its suffering. Her cross-topped globe represents the Christian world and is carried by the small angel to her immediate left.
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