Time of War
After Sir Edwin Henry Landseer British
Engraver Thomas Lewis Atkinson British
Publisher Henry Graves & Co. British
Not on view
In 1846, Landseer exhibited "Time of Peace" and "Time of War" at London's Royal Academy, contrasting the blessings of peace with the horrors of war. One of the paintings, reproduced here, showed two fallen soldiers lying dead on the battlefield near their horses, while the other represented sheep and goats quietly grazing by a rusty cannon. Robert Vernon (1774–1849) purchased both works and arranged for their publication shortly before his own death (both were then destroyed early in the twentieth century). Atkinson's large single-sheet prints, published in 1850 helped to ensure the popularity of the images and were praised by a critic in "The Times" newspaper who noted that they "reproduced the peculiar beauties of the originals with singular skill and fidelity." The companion print is also in the Met's collection (49.40.299).
