Henri Rousseau: War, or the Ride of Discord More than twenty years after the Franco-Prussian conflict of 1870 and the Commune in 1871 when the Douanier Rousseau painted War, he was still very much affected by these events. In the centre, a grimacing female character holds a sword and a torch. This kind of Bellona, Roman goddess of war, rides a horse which looks more like a hybrid monster. The dark ground is covered with a pile of bodies, with crows feeding on this human flesh. The trees look charred. The clouds are red. Without any anecdotal or narrative elements, Rousseau conveys the drama in images. The large number of jagged shapes and the choice of colours, in particular, all contribute to this: the green of hope is completely absent; black and red, the colours of mourning and blood, dominate. This masterpiece is located in the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, France.