#querubins

Collection: Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, Belgium

Roman Catholic veneration of Our Lady of Peace focuses on her roles as a mediatrix of humanity to God, protector from dangers and advocate of sinners and during both the Boer and First World War’s there was widespread use of Christian and in particular Marian (of Mary) imagery in order to make sense of the disasters of war. Evelyn’s depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary, surrounded by celestial rainbows and bedecked in laurel wreaths is therefore a potent and recognizable symbol of salvation, redemption and hope in the face of the futility of attempting to bring peace by waging war.

Collection: Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Austria

Collection: Private Collection

Collection: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, United States

Born in Boston in 1738, John Singleton Copley quickly rose to become the preeminent portrait painter in the American colonies. He began to garner attention abroad in 1766 when, at the age of 18, his portrait of Henry Pelham was exhibited to great acclaim in London. By 1774 Copley had moved overseas, seeking to further his artistic reputation and to escape the escalating conflict in America. He never returned to his native country. Like Copley, Martha Crowninshield Derby was an American expatriate living in London who was aspiring to establish her reputation among the city's social elite. Commissioning Copley to paint her portrait was a carefully calculated (and time-honored) means of furthering these ambitions. In this monumental painting, Copley took the traditional society portrait a step further, casting his sitter in the guise of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. Surrounded by luxurious furnishings and wearing a fashionable empire-waisted dress, Mrs. Derby demonstrates her musical talents by playing a harp-an instrument likely chosen to echo her graceful figure and to emphasize her slender feminine hands—as she is admired from above by heavenly "putti" (angels).

Jerusalem Delivered, also known as The Liberation of Jerusalem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso, first published in 1581, that tells a largely mystified version of the First Crusade in which Christian knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillon, battle Muslims in order to take Jerusalem. Tasso began work on the poem in the mid-1560s. Originally, it bore the title Il Goffredo. It was completed in April 1575 and that summer the poet read his work to Duke Alfonso of Ferrara and Lucrezia, Duchess of Urbino.