This is a drawing of an allegorical scene depicting a landscape with various activities and objects. The image is divided into two panels. On the left panel, there are figures gathered near a table with plates, a cup, and a kettle, surrounded by foliage and a detailed tree. The right panel features figures engaging in tasks, with animals present. In the background are structures resembling buildings and castles on a hilly landscape. The scene conveys a sense of busy activity, possibly symbolic or narrative, reflecting themes found in medieval imagery. The woodcut style suggests an era of medieval allegory with detailed linearity and symbolism in daily life settings.
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This is a drawing of an allegorical scene depicting a landscape with various activities and objects. The image is divided into two panels. On the left panel, there are figures gathered near a table with plates, a cup, and a kettle, surrounded by foliage and a detailed tree. The right panel features figures engaging in tasks, with animals present. In the background are structures resembling buildings and castles on a hilly landscape. The scene conveys a sense of busy activity, possibly symbolic or narrative, reflecting themes found in medieval imagery. The woodcut style suggests an era of medieval allegory with detailed linearity and symbolism in daily life settings.

National Gallery of Art · Print

Allegory of War and Peace

German 15th Century

Date
1499
Medium
woodcut
Classification
Print
Accession number
1943.3.9127
Credit line
Rosenwald Collection
Time span
1401 to 1500
Department
CG-E

Subjects and terms

  • Death
  • Battle
  • Costume
  • Basel
  • Weapons
  • Sword
  • Banner
  • Figures
  • death
Provenance

Martin Aufhäuser [1875-1944], Munich, Holland, and Los Angeles; [1] Lessing J. Rosenwald, Jenkintown, PA; gift to NGA, 1943. [1] For more information on Aufhäuser's collection, see Gallery Archives, National Gallery of Art, Rosenwald Papers, Box 9; Lessing J. Rosenwald, _Recollections of a Collector_, Jenkintown, Pa, 1976, pp. 14-18, and Richard S. Field, _Fifteenth Century Woodcuts and Metalcuts_, Washington, D.C., 1965, Preface (np).

NGA object ID 11636. Collection metadata is reproduced under CC0. This work is included because its NGA published-image record is marked open access; visitors should recheck the source record before substantial reuse.