Jump to content

Lady Justice: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
SieBot (talk | contribs)
421,891 edits
m robot Modifying: de:Iustitia
(2 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 23: Line 23:


Instead of using the [[Janus]] approach, many sculptures simply leave out the blindfold altogether. For example, atop the [[Old Bailey]] courthouse in [[London]], a statue of Lady Justice stands without a blindfold;<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Proc_65824_DSC_0056_jpg.jpg Image of Lady Justice in London].</ref> the courthouse brochures explain that this is because Lady Justice was originally not blindfolded, and because her “maidenly form” is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold redundant.<ref>Colomb, Gregory. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=trgG0BAQ4xkC&pg=PA50&dq=Justice+and++%22without+a+blindfold%22&ei=c3z8Sdg9lujMBJC2uf4G Designs on Truth]'', page 50 (Penn State Press, 1992).</ref> Another solution to the conundrum is to depict a blindfolded Lady Justice as a human scale, weighing competing claims in each hand; this is done, for example, at the Shelby County Courthouse in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JMR-Memphis1.jpg Image of Lady Justice in Memphis].</ref>
Instead of using the [[Janus]] approach, many sculptures simply leave out the blindfold altogether. For example, atop the [[Old Bailey]] courthouse in [[London]], a statue of Lady Justice stands without a blindfold;<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Proc_65824_DSC_0056_jpg.jpg Image of Lady Justice in London].</ref> the courthouse brochures explain that this is because Lady Justice was originally not blindfolded, and because her “maidenly form” is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold redundant.<ref>Colomb, Gregory. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=trgG0BAQ4xkC&pg=PA50&dq=Justice+and++%22without+a+blindfold%22&ei=c3z8Sdg9lujMBJC2uf4G Designs on Truth]'', page 50 (Penn State Press, 1992).</ref> Another solution to the conundrum is to depict a blindfolded Lady Justice as a human scale, weighing competing claims in each hand; this is done, for example, at the Shelby County Courthouse in [[Memphis, Tennessee]].<ref>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JMR-Memphis1.jpg Image of Lady Justice in Memphis].</ref>


One explanation for why she is blindfolded more in line with the goddess tradition is that Lady Justice is an intuitive empath. The sword in one hand symbolizes the power of the law, while she uses the scales in her other hand to "feel" the truth and deliberate justice. In this tradition, she is blindfolded to make certain she does not read "the letter of the law," for law without feeling is the absence of justice, just as a sword without scales can be abusive and draconian. It is argued in the book [[The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image]] by Leonard Shlain that written laws belong to the world of a stern male god (i.e."The Word of God"), while images, feelings and understanding are in the domain of the compassionate goddess. Therefore; justice is a balance of both law and compassion in the interest of fairness.


==Justice in sculpture==
==Justice in sculpture==

Revision as of 15:30, 17 June 2009

"Lady Justice" or "Lord Justice" is also the title of judges on the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
Lady Justice

Lady Justice (Iustitia, the Roman Goddess of Justice and sometimes, simply "Justice") is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems.[1][2]

Depiction

Since the Renaissance, Justitia has frequently been depicted as a matron carrying a sword and measuring balances, and sometimes wearing a blindfold. Her modern iconography, which frequently adorns courthouses and courtrooms, conflates the attributes of several goddesses who embodied Right Rule for Greeks and Romans, blending Roman blindfolded Fortuna (luck) with Hellenistic Greek Tyche (fate), and sword-carrying Nemesis (vengeance).

Justitia's attributes parallel those of the Hellenic deities Themis and Dike. Themis was the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom, in her aspect as the personification of the divine rightness of law. However, the mythological connection is not a direct one. A more appropriate comparison is Themis' daughter Dike, who was imagined carrying scales:

"If some god had been holding level the balance of Dike"

is an image in a surviving fragment of Bacchylides's poetry.

Justitia is most often depicted with a set of weighing scales typically suspended from her left hand, upon which she measures the strengths of a case's support and opposition. She is also often seen carrying a double-edged sword in her right hand, symbolizing the power of Reason and Justice, which may be wielded either for or against any party.

Blindfold

As stated above, Lady Justice is often depicted wearing a blindfold. This is done in order to indicate that justice is (or should be) meted out objectively, without fear or favor, regardless of identity, power, or weakness: blind justice and blind impartiality. The earliest Roman coins depicted Justitia with the sword in one hand and the scale in the other, but with her eyes uncovered.[3] Justitia was only commonly represented as "blind" since about the end of the fifteenth century. The first known representation of blind Justice is Hans Gieng's 1543 statue on the Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen (Fountain of Justice) in Berne.[4]

The blindfold raises some common questions:

Do you want to blindfold someone with a sword?....And how is she supposed to read the scales if she is blind? This troubled early representers of Justice; some thus gave her two faces like Janus, with the side bearing the sword prudently left unblindfolded.[5]

Instead of using the Janus approach, many sculptures simply leave out the blindfold altogether. For example, atop the Old Bailey courthouse in London, a statue of Lady Justice stands without a blindfold;[6] the courthouse brochures explain that this is because Lady Justice was originally not blindfolded, and because her “maidenly form” is supposed to guarantee her impartiality which renders the blindfold redundant.[7] Another solution to the conundrum is to depict a blindfolded Lady Justice as a human scale, weighing competing claims in each hand; this is done, for example, at the Shelby County Courthouse in Memphis, Tennessee.[8]


One explanation for why she is blindfolded more in line with the goddess tradition is that Lady Justice is an intuitive empath. The sword in one hand symbolizes the power of the law, while she uses the scales in her other hand to "feel" the truth and deliberate justice. In this tradition, she is blindfolded to make certain she does not read "the letter of the law," for law without feeling is the absence of justice, just as a sword without scales can be abusive and draconian. It is argued in the book The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image by Leonard Shlain that written laws belong to the world of a stern male god (i.e."The Word of God"), while images, feelings and understanding are in the domain of the compassionate goddess. Therefore; justice is a balance of both law and compassion in the interest of fairness.

Justice in sculpture

References

  1. ^ Hamilton, Marci. God vs. the Gavel, page 296 (Cambridge University Press 2005): “The symbol of the judicial system, seen in courtrooms throughout the United States, is blindfolded Lady Justice.”
  2. ^ Fabri, Marco. The challenge of change for judicial systems, page 137 (IOS Press 2000): “the judicial system is intended to be apolitical, its symbol being that of a blindfolded Lady Justice holding balanced scales.”
  3. ^ See "The Scales of Justice as Represented in Engravings, Emblems, Reliefs and Sculptures of Early Modern Europe" in G. Lamoine, ed., Images et representations de la justice du XVie au XIXe siecle (Toulouse: University of Toulose-Le Mirail, 1983)" at page 8.
  4. ^ Image of Lady Justice in Berne.
  5. ^ Miller, William. Eye for an Eye, page 1 (Cambridge University Press, 2006).
  6. ^ Image of Lady Justice in London.
  7. ^ Colomb, Gregory. Designs on Truth, page 50 (Penn State Press, 1992).
  8. ^ Image of Lady Justice in Memphis.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lady_Justice&oldid=296971178"