Several mythological figures glorify peace in this depiction with many figures. In the centre of the picture, the goddess of peace pax, only lightly dressed in a red cloak wrapped around her hips, is crowned with a laurel wreath by the goddess of victory nike, who is floating towards her. Concordia, "unity" - recognizable by the ancient lictor's bundle - and in front of her in a blue dress "justitia", who holds the scales as an attribute of the justice personified by her, and "abundantia", who pours out her cornucopia over the children playing on the ground as a sign of the abundance of the time of peace, surround the goddess of peace. The carefree putti frame the group by playing with the fruits of the cornucopia in front of her, climbing onto pax's lap and climbing the tree behind her. They are a sign of the happiness of the peace created by pax. To the left of the group, mercury, the messenger of the gods and master of trade, sings a hymn to the goddess of peace on his lute. Above the group, the sky opens and the sunlight penetrating through the leaves of the tree lets the incarnation of the mythological female figures flash and the garments of the group shine in all their colors. The happy, contemplative scene of the consequences of peace - happiness, prosperity and security - is contrasted on the right edge of the picture in muted gray colors by a pile of armor, weapons, standards and war drums and two naked, chained prisoners of war. Above, the sky darkens. A winged war fury turns against the goddesses with a torch, but pax repels her with the caduceus, mercury's staff. Object Type: painting. Genre: allegory. Date: circa 1630. Medium: oil on copper. Collection: City Museum of Münster. Stadtmuseum Münster-Rubens-Frieden und Krieg DSC9856
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