La justice protégé les arts

Accession Number
2012/2.182

Title
La justice protégé les arts

Artist(s)
Gilles Demarteau

Artist Nationality
Flemish (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1763-1767

Medium & Support
crayon-manner engraving, printed in sanguine on laid paper

Dimensions
11 5/8 in x 7 3/4 in (29.53 cm x 19.69 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink

Label copy
Gilles Demarteau, after Charles-Nicholas Cochin
France, 1729–1776; France, 1715–1790
La justice protége les arts (Justice protecting the arts)
ca. 1763–67
Crayon-manner engraving, printed in sanguine on laid paper
Gift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. Spink, 2012/2.182

Subject matter
An allegorical depiction of Justice protecting the Arts.

Physical Description
This crayon-manner engraving printed in sanguine depicts a grouping of figures arranged in a celestial space and positioned against clouds. A large female figure draped in cloth dominates the upper portion of the composition. She holds a set of scales in her left hand. Two female figures, one clothed, one nude, gather below at this figure’s sandaled feet in the center left of the composition. The clothed figure holds a palette and paintbrushes while the nude figure holds a mallet and a sculpted portrait of a man’s face. At the bottom right three male figures, one of whom wrestles a snake, appear to be attacking the female figure holding the palette. A clothed figure donning a helmet protects the figure holding the scales in the upper right.

Primary Object Classification
Print

Collection Area
Western

Rights
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Keywords
allegory (artistic device)
justices (people in law)
painting (coating)
scales (weighing devices)
sculpture (visual works)

& Author Notes

All Rights Reserved