Description
The allegorical painting of peace is a characteristic work of Hans von Aachen, who was himself a typical representative of the distinctive cosmopolitan school that formed in the early 17th century at the court of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II in Prague.
The three female figures embody Peace (with an olive branch), Science and the Liberal Arts (with a sphere and a palette), and Abundance (with a cup and cornucopia).
The theme was intended to symbolically extol the Emperor's peaceful policies which led to prosperity and the flourishing of learning and the arts. The allegorical and codified content, the unstable composition with movement along the diagonal, the aristocratic elongation of the figure, the cold tone of the image, elements of eroticism and disturbing lighting are characteristic of the Rudolphine artistic circle that eclectically combines traits of Italian and Mannerism from the Netherlands.