Peace
Signed years 375 ago, the treaties now known as the Peace ofWestphalia put an end to the Thirty Years' War (1618--48). A great many accounts of the time vividly document this enormous European catastrophe of the seventeenth century, which cost millions oflives and depopulated entire regions. The prints created during this period in particular present a powerful picture of the horrors of that war. In 163 3, in reaction to the siege and conquest of his homeland Lorraine, the artistJacques Callot (1592-1635), born in Nancy, published his most famous work, an eighteen-part series of etchings entitled Les Grandes miseres de la guerre.
Each of the small prints gives a detailed and, above all, unsparing account of the everyday atrocities of the Thirty Years' War. Explanatory captions by Abbot Michel de Marolles (1600- 1681) accompany these scenes. The exhibition presents reproductions of this series, and the Liberna Collection includes an album containing the original etchings. On weekends and during guided tours, interested visitors can view the album itself.
As a parallel exhibit, beginning in mid-May visitors will find the installation The Mirror of Peace by the Dutch artist Renee van Bavel (b. 1981) in the Draiflessen garden. This work confronts the viewer with the insight that a life of peace cannot be taken for granted, and that each of us must take conscious action in order to maintain peace.