Justice
- Date
- 1792-1793
- Object type
- painting
- Technique
- oil
- Material
- canvas
- Dimensions
- dia.: 153,0 cm
- Acquisition date
- 1793
- Location
- The Palace on the Isle - Salle de Salomon, ground floor
- Place of Origin
- Warsaw (Poland, Mazowieckie)
- Owner
- The Royal Łazienki
- Museum number
- ŁKr 128
The depiction of Justice similarly to the other tondi in the series [See Prudence, Mercy, Courage], is based largely on Cesare Ripa’s Iconology, although Bacciarelli made use of only some of the elements and attributes recommended by Ripa. In accordance with Ripa’s description of Giustitia Divina … , the personification of Justice is represented with a sword in her left hand and scales in her right hand.
Agnieszka Skrodzka (See A. Skrodzka, Virtutis invidia comes, czyli o Rotundzie w Łazienkach Królewskich, BHS, 2009, v. 71, No. 1/2, pp. 87‒111, p. 95) suggests that the personification of Justice may have the features of Rudnicka (whose first name is unknown), one of Bacciarelli’s models. This is difficult to confirm due to the lack of a credible portrait of Rudnicka. The faces of the virtues in this series are not individualized, and are similar to one another. Bacciarelli sometimes gave his allegorical or biblical figures the physiognomic traits of people whose likenesses he had painted, but these images are often not faithful enough to be treated as portraits. [See D. Juszczak, H. Małachowicz, The Stanisław August Collection of Paintings at the Royal Łazienki. Catalogue, Royal Łazienki Museum, Warsaw 2016, no. 11, p. 81.]
