Peace and War
by PUVIS DE CHAVANNES, Pierre-Cécile, Oil on canvas, 109 x 149 cm (each)
Pursuing his vocation as a decorator, in 1861 Puvis exhibited two large murals (each measuring 3.40 x 5.55 m), Peace and War, for which he received the second-class medal in the history section. Peace was purchased by the State, and, in order not to separate the two canvases, Puvis donated War. Still without any commissions, he produced the complement to this group, Work and Repose, which he exhibited at the Salon of 1863. Arthur-Stanislas Diet, architect of the Mus�e Napol�on (now Mus�e de Picardie) at Amiens, subsequently approached Puvis to obtain the two series for the museum. The first group was loaned by the State, and the second was donated by Puvis.
The paintings in Philadelphia are reduced versions of the large canvases at Amiens.