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Infantryman
Victor Papescu (from Barbatesti Gorj, Romania)

What a sense of joy, what a shiver of hope crossed France when everyone learnt Romania had entered the war! After the long night of Verdun, the anguished hours of thinking all was lost, it seemed the sun rose on the world again. This new ally who was bringing into the balance the weight of its bayonets, its canons, its faith; made our hearts leap. And, when it had to abandon " the many and high hopes", when the bereavement, the invasion fell on valiant Romania, abandoned, betrayed, no one thought of reproaching this army for having succumbed. On the contrary, one admired the ardour of its resistance. This is captured entirely in the proud face of the soldier who is presented here. The figure of an old latin race fighting for its youthful liberty, the lyricism of an artistic people, a people of musicians and poets and energy and at the same time a fiery spirit that nothing can quell, all that is brought together in this portrait, which is all action, all flame, all life.