Ruben's Allegory Of The Outbreak Of War

Can two different artworks from different eras, locations and painters have any resemblance? Allegory of the Outbreak of War was painted by Peter Paul Rubens in Florence in 1638. It is a great example of a Flemish Baroque art and it is Ruben’s most dynamic and symbolic work. The Death of Sardanapalus was painted by Eugene Delacroix in Paris in 1827. It is a great example of Romantic art and it tells a story full of drama and emotion. Both these paintings share unexpected similarities, yet, at the same time are unique in their own stylistic ways. During the 16th century, England had been through years of misfortune and torment. Ruben was not only a faithful Catholic, but also a pacifist who had to witness wars and get involved with the political diplomacy. However, he had his own interpretations of world peace and created paintings to express his point of view. One of his masterpieces is Allegory of the Outbreak of War, a narrative painting that presents the monstrosities of wars using mythology, symbolisms and stylistic practices. The story in this painting is

The German critics wanted to move on from Neoclassicism and chose to adopt ideal themes of “romantic love, adventure, freedom, individuality, self-preservation […], the embrace of ‘feeling’ ” and at the same time, “terror, obscurity, vastness, power and pain of man and nature” (Module 13). This concept is known as the Sublime and every Romantic artist had their own way of communicating their stylistic approach. Delacroix was encouraged to paint Death of Sardanapalus because he was attracted to the tragedy captivated in the poem “Sardanapalus” by Lord Byron and he wanted to give his opinion on France’s political engagement with Turkey during the 1820s. He designed his version of the story with more disaster and chaos and his individuality entitled him one of the masters of the French