If we don’t end the war, it will end us. -Herbert George Wells.ies and art.
In this article, we are talking about Peter Paul Rubens’ work named “Consequences of War” which he composed in 1638-39. Rubens, one of the most famous artists of Northern Baroque art, reacts to the war that took place at that time with a mythological composition with a magnificent expression.
In 1618, the conflicts between Protestants and Catholics, which had been on the agenda of Europe for a long time, had now turned into war. Rubens, who came to the forefront with the mythological paintings he made at that time, visualizes the drama of his age by resorting to a mythological fiction.
There is another important reason why he does this. At that time, the art world was also seriously affected by this war. Protestants prohibited depictions of holy persons in religious pictures. They did not want more depictions of Jesus, Mary, and other holy persons. The Catholic Church, which started to attack under the name of “Counter-Reformation” against the Reform movement of Protestantism, started to support religious pictures and seriously finance art.
Therefore, the most influential period of the 17th century, the Baroque, emerged. Baroque art aimed to directly hit the emotions of the audience with its intense movement, strong shadow-light plays and theatrical expressions. Under the leadership of Caravaggio, the understanding of Baroque art, which was strengthened in Rome with the financial support of the Catholic church, soon left Italy and spread to regions such as France, Spain, Netherlands and Belgium.
The technical features of baroque art were very popular in the northern regions. However, this understanding of art, which was born in Italy, was used to bring religious pictures to the fore. The holy light, falling on the figures as if filtering through a slit in the dark canvases, turned into art in the brush of many arts to illuminate this darkness in Europe.
However, many painters who did not or could not draw religious depictions in the Northern regions also adopted Baroque art. However, they preferred daily life scenes and mythological scenes instead of religious scenes. This war was not only in life, but also in art. Rubens, who was a northerner and painted under the rule of Protestants, also decided to deal with this war through a mythological scene.
When we look at the painting, the first two figures that draw our attention are Mars, the God of War, and Venus, the Goddess of Beauty, positioned right in the middle of the composition. These two gods, who frequently appear in mythological scenes in the history of art, carry symbolic messages because of their love story. Of the duo usually depicted in bed, Venus appears vigorous after making love, while Mars is shown exhausted or asleep. This is interpreted as the superiority of love over war. (Sandro Botticelli, Venus and Mars).
In some paintings, Mars, following the sleeping Venus with great peace and calm, is handled. The message to be conveyed with such pictures; war is calming and calming in the face of love. However, we cannot talk about this effect in this composition. In the composition, after Venus and Mars, the figure that draws our attention the most is Alekto. It also symbolizes anger.
While Alekto is pulling the arm of the Mars figure, the Venus figure is pulling the cloak of Mars with an opposite movement, on the other hand, it seems like she wants to pull Alekto’s hand from Mars.(dişil) Venus is tugging her vicious love not to go to war. But even as Mars emotionally stares into Venus’ eyes, his sword continues to target the innocent.
Known as the god of the bloodiest wars, Mars is depicted as a dark, masculine male figure with a bloody sword. Venus, which was depicted in accordance with the understanding of beauty of the period, was depicted as white-skinned and overweight. Her white skin symbolizes that she lives in palaces, and her anatomy symbolizes her fertility. The movements and movements sought in baroque scenes are reflected very strongly in this chaotic atmosphere.
Throughout the composition, we can feel the movement, chaos, darkness and strong emotions brought by the war almost everywhere. The intense theatrical expressions on the faces of the figures also strengthen the emotional transfer between the viewer and the painting.
The arrows scattered in different directions, which we see behind the Venus figure, under the feet of the cupid figures, symbolize aimlessness. A little to the left of the picture, we see the European figure who seems to be praying with his arms raised helplessly. However, there is much more to be told in the picture. This picture is not simply an attempt to emphasize that war is bad.
Rubens wants to show how much destruction war has caused in our lives, by dealing with all aspects. When we look at the figures behind the Alekto figure, we can see what anger leaves behind and what it makes invisible; innocents… The Innocents section, on the other hand, contains more symbols. First, we see a figure who looks at the god of war with his baby in his arms with eyes full of fear. Just below it, there is a male figure falling to the ground and holding a compass in his hand.
This figure represents architecture and a crumbling culture. The collapse of its architectural figure to the ground symbolizes the destruction of centuries-old cities. The woman next to him is the figure of Harmony. Armoni has a broken musical instrument under his arm. Now Europe’s disharmonious hymns and all other music are broken. When we move our eyes to the left of this figure, we see the book and the drawings under the feet of the god of war.
We see literature and art destroyed by the war, trampled on by all aspects of humanity. War continues on its way with the bloody sword in its hand to take away the lives of innocent people, as well as to take away their arts, dreams, efforts and creativity.
Our only hope in this work is Venus, the goddess of beauty we come back to and the love in painting. Love and beauty; We look at the work with hope so that it will be the savior of the innocents, citWe want anger to pull its hand away. We do not want Mars to walk with the bloody sword in his hand any longer… Just like today…
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