Peace Urges the Churches to Tolerance

The painting is executed in oil paint on canvas, a standard support for Dutch allegorical works of the early seventeenth century. Its dimensions are 131.5 cm in height by 162.5 cm in width, giving it a horizontal orientation suited to the multi-figure table scene it contains.

Stylistically, the work is an allegorical religious composition in which a female personification of Peace enters from the left bearing an olive branch, while the central figures, Jean Calvin, an unidentified pope and Martin Luther, are seated around a table. Luther plays a lute, and Calvin squeezes half an orange, using the fruit as a symbol of the link between Calvinism and the House of Orange. To the right, the Anabaptist Menno Simons crouches by a fireplace with a tray of bread.

Two smaller framed pictures hang on the background walls, depicting Peace with Justice, and Charity with her children, alongside explanatory verses inscribed on the room's walls.

Created in the Low Countries between 1620 and 1637, this anonymous allegorical painting dates to the early seventeenth century. It remained in private hands until 1968, when it was purchased anonymously in France by Bosman, a Brussels collector, who donated it to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam that same year. The work is held in the Rijksmuseum collection under inventory number SK-A-4152 and has been on long-term loan to the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht since 1977, where it remains on display. It was subsequently shown in the Rijksmuseum's "Luther" exhibition.

Created by an anonymous artist in the Low Countries around 1620, this allegorical painting reflects the religious complexities of the early seventeenth-century Netherlands. The work belongs to a tradition of allegorical representations emphasizing that Christians need not adhere to a single denomination but should prioritize the love of Christ and mutual tolerance. The composition features Martin Luther, John Calvin, and a pope, alongside the Anabaptist Menno Simons, illustrating a call for unity amidst doctrinal divisions.

Symbolic elements, including an orange squeezed by Calvin to represent the House of Orange and a lute played by Luther, convey specific theological and political nuances. The painting was acquired in 1968 by a Brussels collector before entering the Rijksmuseum, and later moved to long-term loan at the Museum Catharijneconvent in 1977.

Peace Urges the Churches to Tolerance is an allegorical oil painting from the early 17th century, created sometime between 1600 and 1624. The artist responsible for this work remains unknown. As an allegorical piece, it employs symbolic figures and scenes to convey abstract ideas, likely addressing themes of religious unity or reconciliation during a period of significant confessional strife in Europe.