I Too Was a Soldier Once
St. Francis, who himself was once himself a captured soldier, stands before a fallen soldier whose medieval armor and modern equipment bring centuries together. A flower in the soldier’s hand introduces a fragile note of hope in this oil painting about war, compassion, and transformation.
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In Too Was a Soldier Once, St. Francis appears above a fallen soldier, his open hands suggesting an invitation. The soldier looks upward. His clothing is caught beneath a spear, while a small flower remains in his hand.
Medieval armor, military boots, and a modern firearm blur the boundaries of time. The soldier might recall Francis before his transformation, another warrior, or those burdened by warfare across generations.
The title gives their encounter a voice: “I too was a soldier once.” Francis’s presence suggests recognition rooted in shared experience. Yet the painting leaves the exchange open. Is the soldier seeking understanding, release, or the strength to rise?
At the center of Weight of War, this work invites reflection on how suffering might become a beginning for compassion—and how a wounded life might turn toward peace.
Medium: Oil
Unframed size: 44 inches wide × 80 inches high
Framed size: 52 inches wide × 88 inches high
Local pickup is available by appointment at my Greendale studio, where you’re welcome to see this piece in person and browse similar available work.
