This library is built in the open.
If you spot an error, have a suggestion, or just want to say hello — we’d love to hear from you.
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileafter Hendrick Goltzius
A monumental female figure stands in a rugged landscape, holding a large upright sword in her right hand and balanced scales in her left. She is dressed in heavy, classical drapery that emphasizes her powerful physique, a hallmark of the Haarlem Mannerist style. In the far background, a small figure of a traveler and a distant cityscape are visible under a cloudy sky.
As one of the four Cardinal Virtues, Justice represents the principle of 'suum cuique' (to each his own), reflecting the Neoplatonic idea of a cosmic order governed by divine measure. The accompanying verse suggests that Justice acts as a mediating force that reconciles the human realm with the divine through counsel and balance.
Cuique suum iusto pensans libramine reddo, Concilioq[ue] homines, concilioq[ue] Deos:
Translation
I render to each his own, weighing it in a just balance, And I reconcile men, and I reconcile the gods:
Plato
In the 'Republic', Plato defines Justice as the foundational virtue that ensures harmony within both the individual soul and the state.
Macrobius
Macrobius’s 'Commentary on the Dream of Scipio' was a primary source for the medieval and Renaissance understanding of the four Cardinal Virtues.
Object
Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem
Engraving
allegory
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://hdl.handle.net/21.12102/ee590d21-fee2-920e-c52a-942cae9b789a
Public domain
2324 × 3460 px
819c157a92e4fca0222151448312e1261f37c981
April 23, 2019
March 23, 2026
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.