Justice
Original title: Justice
kurzbeschreibung
A seated woman holding scales and a sword personifies Justice: Fra Angelico (Guido di Pietro) drew this Justitia around 1440 with pen and brown ink, adding brush and brown wash. The sheet on paper measures 19.3 x 17 cm.
Description
Justitia sits enthroned on a base, facing the viewer strictly frontally. Her right hand holds the scales, her left the sword, whose blade stands out in a darker brown tone. A crown and traditional garment mark her dignity as a figure of virtue. The arrangement remains symmetrical and open; even light without harsh shadows and a palette limited to shades of brown make the figure stand clearly against the bare ground.
Context
The Dominican friar and early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico probably made this drawing as a study or as an independent sheet. Scales and sword follow the common iconographic scheme of virtue personifications in the fifteenth century. A connection with his frescoes in the Florentine convent of San Marco, on which he worked between 1438 and 1445, is conceivable.
Impact
Balanced and dignified, the sheet stands out, supported by the calm seated posture and clear symmetry. Because everything is restricted to brown tones and delicate lines, the drawing gains a quiet, almost meditative mood characteristic of Fra Angelico.
Technique
Fra Angelico drew the contours with pen and brown ink; he set the shading with a brush in brown wash. He additionally emphasized the blade of the sword with darker brown ink, also using a pen. Such washed pen drawings commonly served for studies and designs in the Renaissance.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)