It is part of a group composed of seventeen figures—Niobe and fourteen children, a pedagogue and a nurse. The figure of the mother clasped by the arm of her terrified child is one of the most admired of the ancient statues. It is the highest instance in sculpture in which the body, itself exempt from pain, so wonderfully reflects the tortured soul. It ranks with the Laocoon and Apollo Belvedere as a work of art.
Mars.
“God of Dreadful War.”
“The mailed Mars shall on his altar sit
Up to his ears in blood.”
—Shakespeare.
STORY.
THE WAR GOD.
Mars, the son of Jupiter and Juno, was born in Thrace, a country noted for its fierce storms and war-loving people. He had quarrelsome tastes and delighted in the din and noise of warfare, never questioning which side was right. Strife and slaughter were the conditions of his existence. His attendants, Fear, Discord, Alarm, Dread and Terror, sympathized with him heartily and readily followed his lead.
Bellona, goddess of war, watched over him closely. She drove his chariot, warded off dangerous blows, and in other ways protected him. The altars of Mars and Bellona were the only ones given up to human sacrifice.