In Peace Sons Bury Their Fathers

Chester Beach, In Peace Sons Bury Their Fathers, 1937, bronze, 2 ⁷⁄₈ in. (7.3 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the heirs of Albert Laessle: Mrs. Albertine de Bempt Laessle, Mr. Albert M. Laessle and Mr. Paul Laessle, 1972.167.23

Artwork Details

Title: In Peace Sons Bury Their Fathers
Artist: Chester Beach
Commissioner: Society of Medallic Arts
Founder: Medallic Art Company
Date: 1937
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: bronze
Mediums Description: bronze
Classifications: Sculpture
Medal
Subjects: State of being — death
Figure group — male — nude
Figure male — elderly
Object Number: 1972.167.23
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1972.167.23

Artwork Description

This medal employs a quotation from the fifth-century Greek historian Herodotus to express the threat of another world war that loomed throughout the 1930s. An inscription on the obverse states, "In peace sons bury their fathers," while the reverse reads, "In war the fathers bury their sons." Chester Beach received the National Sculpture Society's Lindsey Morris Memorial Prize in 1938 for a plaque based on this medal.