Anna Lea Merritt - War [1883]

Anna Lea Merritt -

War [1883]

Bury Art Museum

 

The very title of this picture transforms it from a history painting into a general allegory of war itself and, more particularly women’s role in it. Three major conflicts occurred through Meritt’s life-time causing her family to migrate to different countries. Influenced by her own personal experience, rather than depicting the direct impact of a warzone or devastated landscape, she has chosen to portray women and families whose lives have been indirectly impacted in War. The women take centre stage here. They are on a balcony observing a victory parade at some unspecified time in the past. The mediaeval armour and classical architecture are uncomfortably mixed and signal that this is not based on an actual historical event. The women on the left hold both a laurel wreath for the victor and more sinister, a palm, the Christian symbol of martyrdom.

All of the women look anxiously at the principal figure, who clasps to herself a key, a symbol of her changed status. She is now mistress of her own fate and that of her son. Her husband has clearly not returned from the War of the title; she is now a widow.

 

The young boy at the front of the picture is disengaged with the devastating news. He is holding a war-horn and gazing outward. This object symbolises the cyclical nature of war, his younger generation will unfortunately most likely also experience the impacts of conflict during their lifetime, a cycle which sadly still continues to the present day. The painting fixes this dramatic moment of realisation as the role of this group of people is forced to change by this circumstance.

 

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