Dear all,
next classes will be devoted to legal iconography and the first class will deal with one of the most beloved topics of the “Law and the Humanities” course: the iconography of Lady Justice! Here a detailed description:
Legal iconography: an introduction
Stefan Huygebaert, Ghent University

Willem Jacobsz. Delff, Robert de Baudous, Maria Strick-Becq, Justice before the judgement of Zaleucus and Cambyses, ca. 1600 (detail), Rijksmuseum
First class: Icon and iconoclasm of Justice
The first class of this introduction to legal iconography deals with what might be one of the best known personifications in Western art and/or iconographic history. Justice, Justitia, Lady Justice,… the often blindfolded lady with balance & sword is omnipresent in today’s world of law, and its courthouses, law books, law faculty buildings, newspaper websites and even the bodies of (ex-)convicts. Because of her ubiquitous nature, she became an icon – or as an icon, she became ubiquitous. In this class, we will discuss how this omnipresence came to be, by looking at the origins of both the figure of Justice and her attributes, by interpreting their iconography as symptoms of an underlying legal culture, and by analysing both the general icon of Justice as well as a specific case of Pomeroy’s Justice on the Old Bailey in London. Continue reading “13-14-15 April: Stefan Huygebaert on Law and Iconography”