Proclamation of Peace after the Thirty Years' War

A result of discontent with the political and religious changes of the 1555 Peace of Augsburg, the Thirty Years' War (1618-48) devastated Central Europe, with some German states losing more than half their population. The conflict, involving Spain, Austria, France, Sweden and Denmark, all of which wished to gain territory or influence in German lands, ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia. The artist here leaves behind the political, emphasizing religion and the relief from devastation. Drawing on Biblical imagery, he includes a rainbow like the one that celebrated the new covenant with God after the devastation of Noah's flood.

The Dresden artist Franz Dietrich prepared for large multi-figured compositions such as this one as a frescoist in Bohemian churches.