Figure of Justice, 1979.344

A 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.