Käthe Kollwitz made this lithograph, "Mothers" (Mütter), in 1919, the year after World War I ended. In the image, a group of women gather, clasping their children in their arms. In February 1919, Kollwitz wrote of this work: "I have drawn the mother who embraces her two children; I am with my own children, born from me, my Hans and my little Peter." She depicts herself as the central figure, eyes closed, holding her two sons. The younger one, Peter, had been killed while serving as a rifleman in the war. Themes of motherhood, grief, and death pervaded Kollwitz’s work for the rest of her career. In this work, each mother’s facial and bodily expression depicts a unique display of love, loss, and protection.