Artwork Details
- Title
- Peace
- Artist
- Commissioner
- Society of Medallic Arts
- Founder
- Medallic Art Company
- Date
- 1936
- Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- 2 7⁄8 in. (7.3 cm) diam.
- Credit Line
- Gift of the heirs of Albert Laessle: Mrs. Albertine de Bempt Laessle, Mr. Albert M. Laessle and Mr. Paul Laessle
- Mediums
- Mediums Description
- bronze
- Keywords
- Figure male — full length
- Fantasy — winged being
- Landscape — cemetery
- Architecture — machine — farm machine
- Occupation — farm — farmer
- Allegory — civic — peace
- Object Number
- 1972.167.20
Artwork Description
Research has not revealed the purpose of Albert Stewart’s medal, but the details offer clues. On the obverse, a stylized figure of Peace carries an olive branch high above a mountainous country. On the reverse, a man turns from his plow---which evokes the biblical proverb of turning swords into plowshares---to look back at a field of crosses marking the war dead. An inscription on the reverse appears to refer to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. The war drew sympathizers from many nations into the International Brigades, military units of volunteers from different countries who fought for democratic government in Spain. A number of American artists were vocal supporters of the Republicans, who fought against General Francisco Franco’s royalist forces.