Peace (1952-1956)

"All the figures in Peace are children from Brodowski, five times on seesaws, like they appear in many of his paintings, other times tumbling and twirling, playing leapfrog or setting traps;...

Clarival do Prado Valladares

...girls dancing and singing,...

...a chorus of children of all races, like us, Brazilians,...

...a country bride on the back of a white horse,...

...the clown,...

...the woman carrying the lamb,...

...the two kid goats dancing, right at the panel’s center, as if they were the nucleus of peace,...

...the mare and the colt,...

...and in the upper part, way up there, peasants planting, peasants harvesting, the scarecrow, the rice beaters, men, women and children singing."

Clarival do Prado Valladares

"There is no doubt about it: It has to be the Eumenides, as the Furies have already transfigured. There is no doubt: It has to be the Eumenides among the girls and boys of Brodowski."

Clarival do Prado Valladares

"What emanates from this panel, enchants us, fills us with joy, more than the idea of peace and peacefulness, is the peace that comes over us as we contemplate it. (...) With all these golden, sparkling with life, joyful tones, the painter seems to say: universal peace is possible. The day will come that humanity will enjoy peace unrestricted by space or time."

Israel Pedrosa

"Structurally, the composition is related to the War mural, and also resembles subsequent works by Portinari. His inspiration was drawn from idyllic rural life in an innocent view of paradise, which the artist actually experienced in his childhood. (...) Thus it was among the humble people, who truly live in harmony, in an agricultural setting, where the painter saw a happy, peaceful society."

Antonio Bento

"Brodowski is the geographical center of this tranquil life, (...). The painter reproduced with utter simplicity scenes from his childhood life. He fused these essential elements into an organic whole, giving the composition order and cohesion, structure and balance."

Antonio Bento

"His theme was thus simplified and reduced to its essence. (...) Ultimately the subject disappears, yielding to a game of shapes and masses, to a simple harmony of rhythms, tonalities and volumes in space."

Antonio Bento

"The predominant colors are yellows that appear golden. Peace itself signals a golden age. This is the spirit or sentiment that inspired the creation of this second mural."

Antonio Bento

"The two panels are among few Portinari made with themes not directly related to Brazil’s history. Yet a Brasillian imaginary is still there. Peace brings a symbolic depiction of the brotherhood of all men, the primary characteristic of peace, in the communion amidst our people’s diversity. (...)"

Antonio Bento