Description

The figures of Peace (burning the weapons of war) and Justice (holding a sword and scales) embrace in a quiet landscape. The Latin inscription under the antique urn reads “Justice and Peace kissed” (referring to an Old Testament verse, Psalms 85:10). The subject may have had political significance: the painting’s date coincides with the end of the Fronde, a period of civil war in France during which the parlement (courts of appeal) and the nobility sought—unsuccessfully—to limit the power of the monarchy

Provenance

Evrard Titon du Tillet, Paris, probably 1762; Randon de Boisset, Receveur General des Finances, Paris (sale: Paris, February 27—March 25, 1777, no. 170); Joulin [Joullain?]; Marquis de Sabran; purchased by J. B. P. Lebrun in 1796 for Mr. Codman (see Literature, 1935); (sale: Christie's, London, November 27,1970, no. 52, illus., and dated 1659); Lady Nathan; [Cyril Humphris, London). John L. Severance Fund, 1971.

The Kiss of Peace and Justice

Laurent de La Hyre

1654

Accession Number

1971.102

Medium

oil on canvas

Dimensions

Framed: 68.5 x 89 x 6.5 cm (26 15/16 x 35 1/16 x 2 9/16 in.); Unframed: 54.9 x 76.2 cm (21 5/8 x 30 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

John L. Severance Fund

Background & Context

Background Story

Laurent de La Hyre (1606-1656) was a French painter known for the calm, classical manner that makes him one of the most important painters of the French Baroque classical tradition. The Kiss of Peace and Justice from 1654 depicts the allegorical subject of Peace and Justice embracing in the calm, classical manner that distinguishes La Hyre's best allegorical paintings from the more dramatic Baroque work of his contemporaries. The 1654 date places this in La Hyre's mature period, when he was producing the calm, classical allegorical paintings that are his most accomplished works.

Cultural Impact

The Kiss of Peace and Justice is important in the history of French painting because it demonstrates the calm, classical manner that La Hyre developed as an alternative to the more dramatic Baroque of his contemporaries. La Hyre's calm, classical manner—combining the clarity of Poussin's classicism with the gentleness of the French tradition—represents an important type of French Baroque painting that is simultaneously classical in composition and gentle in feeling, and the 1654 allegory shows this type at its most accomplished.

Why It Matters

The Kiss of Peace and Justice is La Hyre's calm French classicism: the allegorical subject rendered in the gentle, classical manner that makes him one of the most important painters of the French Baroque classical tradition. The 1654 painting shows the alternative to dramatic Baroque—classical composition with gentle feeling.

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