Allegory of Peace and War

Pompeo Batoni’s grand portraits and numerous religious and historical commissions established him as the leading Roman painter of his day. He painted Peace and War on his own initiative, without a commission, attracting critical praise for the work’s graceful invention. It combines elements of Rococo softness and eroticism with the newly fashionable Neoclassical style. War, represented by the god Mars, is restrained by a personification of peace, who bears an olive branch.