A muscular man in armor stands at the center, his helmet raised by a pale, nearly nude woman who leans into him, her arm lifted above her head. The man’s red cloak and metal breastplate glint in the warm light that falls from the right, catching on the polished surfaces of scattered weapons and armor at his feet. The woman’s body is draped only in a transparent cloth and a jeweled belt, her gaze turned toward the man as she gently restrains his martial gesture.

At their feet, a winged child tugs at the man’s sword, while another clambers over a shield and a third holds a bow, their small bodies animated and playful amid the debris of war. The ground is strewn with helmets, breastplates, crossbows, and a copper vessel, all rendered with crisp, reflective detail and arranged in a tangle that fills the lower half of the composition. Behind the central pair, the vaulted stone arches of a dim armory recede into shadow, punctuated by the silhouettes of cannons, wheels, and distant figures leading white horses toward a sunlit opening.

On the right, leather straps and harnesses hang from the wall, while the left side is dominated by the heavy machinery of war, including a large cannon aimed toward the viewer. The colors are rich and earthy, with deep browns, reds, and golds contrasting with the luminous flesh tones of the figures and the cool blue-green of the distant landscape glimpsed through the arch. The brushwork is precise in the depiction of metal, textiles, and flesh, with subtle transitions of light and shadow giving the scene a vivid, tactile presence. The subject is mythological, showing Mars, the god of war, being disarmed by Venus, the goddess of love, while putti intervene to further strip him of his weapons.

A crossbow, one of the objects specifically noted in records, lies among the instruments of war at the lower left, part of the array of arms that symbolize Mars’s surrender to love.