Date : approx. between 1805 and 1808
Material : Oil on canvas
| Item 15 on 17
European Painting
Painting (Allégorie)
Area related
France
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| Description |  |
Prud'hon prepared this study for a painting destined to hang behind the judge's bench in the criminal courtroom of the Palace of Justice in Paris. It shows Divine Vengeance, illuminating the way with a torch, and Justice, armed with a sword and scales, pursuing a murderer. Inspired by a line from the Roman poet Horace-"Retribution rarely fails to pursue the evil man"-Prud'hon used sweeping brushwork and bold contrasts of light and dark to convey the inevitability of justice.
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