Personification of justice
Lady Justice
(
Latin
:
Iustitia
) is an
allegorical
personification
of the moral force in judicial systems.
[1]
[2]
Her attributes are
scales
, a sword and sometimes a blindfold. She often appears as a pair with
Prudentia
.
Lady Justice originates from the personification of Justice in Ancient Roman art known as
Iustitia
or
Justitia
,
[3]
who is equivalent to the Greek goddess
Dike
.
[
citation needed
]
The goddess Justitia
[
edit
]
The origin of Lady Justice was
Justitia
(or
Iustitia
), the goddess of
Justice
within
Roman mythology
. Justitia was introduced by emperor
Augustus
, and was thus not a very old deity in the
Roman pantheon
.
Justice was one of the virtues celebrated by emperor
Augustus
in his
clipeus virtutis
, and a temple of Iustitia was established in Rome by emperor
Tiberius
.
[3]
Iustitia became a symbol for the virtue of justice with which every emperor wished to associate his regime; emperor
Vespasian
minted coins with the image of the goddess seated on a throne called
Iustitia Augusta
, and many emperors after him used the image of the goddess to proclaim themselves protectors of justice.
[3]
Though formally called a goddess with her own temple and cult shrine in Rome, it appears that she was from the onset viewed more as an artistic symbolic personification rather than as an actual deity with religious significance.
[
citation needed
]
Depiction
[
edit
]
The personification of justice balancing the
scales
dates back to their goddess
Maat
,
[4]
and later
Isis
, of
ancient Egypt
. The
Hellenic
deities
Themis
and
Dike
were later goddesses of justice.
Themis
was the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom, in her aspect as the personification of the divine rightness of law.
Scales
[
edit
]
Lady Justice is often depicted with a set of scales, typically suspended from one hand, upon which she balances the relative substance and value (ie the 'weight') of the available evidence and arguments on both sides of any bilateral dispute. The scales can therefore 'tip in favour' of either side, and justice, in terms of the metaphor, can be enacted upon seeing the result.
[5]
The
Greek goddess Dike
is depicted holding a set of scales:
If some god had been holding level the balance of Dike (Justice).
?
Bacchylides
, Fragment 5 (trans. Campbell, Vol.
Greek Lyric IV
) (Greek lyric
c.
5th B.C.
)
Blindfold
[
edit
]
Since the 16th century, Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold was originally a satirical addition intended to show Justice as blind to the injustice carried on before her,
[6]
but it has been reinterpreted over time and is now understood to represent
impartiality
, the ideal that justice should be applied without regard to wealth, power, or other status. The earliest Roman coins depicted Justitia with the sword in one hand and the scale in the other, but with her eyes uncovered.
[7]
Justitia was only commonly represented as "blind" since the middle of the 16th century. The first known representation of blind Justice is
Hans Gieng
's 1543 statue on the
Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen
(Fountain of Justice) in
Bern
.
[8]
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;
[9]
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.
[10]
Another variation is to depict a blindfolded Lady Justice as a human scale, weighing competing claims in each hand. An example of this can be seen at the Shelby County Courthouse in
Memphis, Tennessee
.
[11]
Sword
[
edit
]
The sword represented authority in ancient times, and conveys the idea that justice can be swift and final.
[12]
Toga
[
edit
]
The
Greco-Roman
garment symbolizes the status of the philosophical attitude that embodies justice.
[12]
[
unreliable source?
]
In computer systems
[
edit
]
Unicode
version 4.1.0 implemented a scales symbol at
code point
U+2696,
[13]
that may be used to represent the scales of justice.
In art
[
edit
]
Sculpture
[
edit
]
-
Lady Justice with sword, scales and blindfold on the
Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen
in
Bern
, Switzerland?1543
-
The Justice
, in front of the
Supreme Court of Brazil
-
Lady Justice seated at the entrance of The
Palace of Justice, Rome
, Italy
-
Sculpture of Lady Justice on the
Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen
[
de
]
in
Frankfurt
, Germany
-
Justitia
on the
Delft City Hall
, the Netherlands
-
Justitia
, outside the
Supreme Court of Canada
,
Ottawa
,
Ontario
, Canada
-
The Central Criminal Court or
Old Bailey
,
London
, UK
-
Themis, Itojyuku,
Shibuya-ku
, Japan
-
19th-century sculpture of the
Power of Law
at
Olomouc
,
Czech Republic
?lacks the blindfold and scales of Justice, replacing the latter with a book
-
The Law
, by
Jean Feuchere
-
-
-
Justitia
in the Superior Courts Building in
Budapest
, Hungary.
[14]
-
Themis, Old courthouse,
Ghent
, Belgium
-
-
Justica
,
high-relief
in front of Justice Palace,
Campinas
,
Brazil
-
-
Lady Justice at the
Shelby County
Courthouse in
Memphis, Tennessee
-
Lady Justice at the rooftop of
Riga Town Hall
,
Latvia
Painting
[
edit
]
Heraldry
[
edit
]
Lady Justice and her symbols are used in heraldry, especially in the
arms
and
seals
of legal government agencies.
See also
[
edit
]
Goddesses of Justice and related concepts
[
edit
]
Gods of Justice
Astronomy
[
edit
]
Notable programs
[
edit
]
In fiction
[
edit
]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
- Metallica
, a popular American heavy metal band, used an illustrated depiction of a cracked, rope-bound Lady Justice for their studio album
...And Justice for All
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
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."
- ^
Fabri,
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 a balanced scales."
- ^
a
b
c
"IUSTITIA"
.
treccani.it
.
- ^
"Appendix D: Legal Symbols of the Anglo-American Legal Tradition"
.
The Guide to American Law : Everyone's Legal Encyclopedia
. Vol. 11. St. Paul [Minn.]: West Publishing Company. 1983. p. 687.
ISBN
0314732241
.
OCLC
9196541
.
- ^
Supreme Court 'Symbols of Law' Information Sheet
- ^
Manderson, Desmond.
Blind Justice
(2020) 66:1 McGill LJ 5
- ^
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.
- ^
Image of Lady Justice in Berne
.
- ^
Image of Lady Justice in London
.
- ^
Colomb, Gregory.
Designs on Truth
, p. 50 (Penn State Press, 1992).
- ^
Image of Lady Justice in Memphis
.
- ^
a
b
Brent T. Edwards.
"Symbolism of Lady Justice"
. Retrieved
24 February
2017
.
- ^
"Unicode Data-4.1.0"
. Retrieved
2020-09-28
.
- ^
Takacs, Peter.
"Statues of Lady Justice in Hungary: Representation of Justitia in town halls, courthouses, and other public spaces"
(PDF)
.
?lovek a Spolo?nost
. Gy?r, Hungary: Szechenyi Istvan University.
ISSN
1335-3608
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Iustitia
.
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