Accession Number2012/2.182
TitleLa justice protégé les arts
Artist(s)Gilles DemarteauArtist NationalityFlemish (culture or style)Object Creation Datecirca 1763-1767Medium & Supportcrayon-manner engraving, printed in sanguine on laid paperDimensions 11 5/8 in x 7 3/4 in (29.53 cm x 19.69 cm)
Credit LineGift of Professor Walter M. and Nesta R. SpinkLabel copyGilles 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 matterAn allegorical depiction of Justice protecting the Arts.
Physical DescriptionThis 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.
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Keywords
allegory (artistic device)
justices (people in law)
painting (coating)
scales (weighing devices)
sculpture (visual works)