Object Image

The Crowning of the Virtuous Hero

The Crowning of the Virtuous Hero is a painting by Peter Paul Rubens, painted between 1613 and 1614. Unsigned, it was commissioned by the St George Guild of Archers in Antwerp for their banqueting hall and is now in the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister within the Schloss Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel.

Description It shows an ancient Roman general being crowned by Nike with laurels of victory and treading underfoot a bound barbarian and a personification of Discord (shown with snakes for hair). To his right is a genius of Harmony, who presents him with a bound bundle of arrows (symbolising peace). The figure on the right is also intended as the guardian of religion, due to the eternal fire shown on the...

between 1613 and 1615
Oil on panel
161.0 x 236.0cm
Q1790651
Image and text courtesy of Wikipedia, 2023