Minerva beschützt Pax vor Mars ('Frieden und Krieg')

Minerva protects Pax from Mars ('Peace and War')

Pax (Peace) presses milk from her breast. to feed the child Plutus, god of wealth, as a satyr offers a cornucopia overflowing with the fruits of peace to children in the foreground. The two women on the left represent prosperity and the arts, which are among the benefits of peace. To the right, the armoured Minerva, goddess of wisdom and the arts, drives away Mars, god of war, and the fury Alecto, who represents anger. In the sky, a winged phantom spits fire and destruction. Rubens, a diplomat as well as an artist, presented this painting to King Charles I when he was in London negotiating a peace treaty between England and Spain.