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Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileA seated female figure holds a set of scales aloft in her left hand, while her right arm rests on the neck of a large ostrich. She is dressed in voluminous classical drapery that falls across her lap and leaves one breast exposed. The work is a pen and ink study after a figure designed by Raphael for the Sala di Costantino in the Vatican.
As one of the four cardinal virtues, Justice was central to Renaissance Neoplatonic moral philosophy and the concept of the ideal state. The inclusion of the ostrich is a specific iconographic choice based on the belief that the bird’s feathers are of perfectly equal length, symbolizing the impartiality and equity required of a judge.
Cesare Ripa, Iconologia
Ripa identifies the ostrich as an attribute of Justice because its feathers are of equal length, representing equity.
Object
Oil on panel
allegory
Digital Source
Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
https://harvardartmuseums.org/collections/person/28220?person=28220
661 × 1024 px
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on March 31, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.