The Peace Banquet

You can almost look over the shoulder of artist Joachim von Sandrart as he works – he has portrayed himself at the front right of the painting. On a commission from Swedish generalissimo Gustavus Adolphus, seated at left at the head of the large table, Sandrart documents the festive "Peace Banquet" that the Swedish general held for VIPs from all over the Holy Roman Empire and Sweden in the Great Hall of the Nuremberg Rathaus on September 25, 1649. The dazzling festivities celebrated the signing of the "Executions-Haupt-Recess" – the "Primary Resolution for Implementing the Peace" – by many of those in attendance, resolving various important questions to safeguard the Peace of Westphalia following the Thirty Years' War.