Mars 1596

Jan Saenredam made this engraving, “Mars,” in the Netherlands, sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century. It depicts the Roman god of war as a nude statue, standing above a group of armed soldiers. In the context of the Eighty Years' War, when the Netherlands was fighting for independence from Spain, the image of Mars takes on a particular resonance. Statues like this one were often erected in public spaces to remind people of the power of the state. But here, Saenredam shows us Mars with his back turned, as though he is indifferent to the soldiers preparing for battle. The Latin text at the bottom of the image translates to something like: “Through me comes sad death, through me happy victory”. Is Saenredam suggesting that war brings both triumph and tragedy or is he commenting on the futility of war? To understand this work better, we can look into popular political sentiments of the time, as expressed in pamphlets and other artworks. By placing this print within its historical and cultural context, we can begin to understand how it might have been received by its original audience.