The Wages of War 1848

Henry Peters Gray’s 1848 painting *The Wages of War* depicts the somber aftermath of battle. A dying soldier lies at the foot of a monument, his helmet and shield cast aside. Two women mourn nearby, one cradling a young child. The scene is set against a background of a distant city, suggesting the broader impact of conflict. Gray’s meticulous detail and emotive composition underscore the human cost of war, a theme relevant to audiences both in the artist's time and today.