Justice Disarmed by Innocence and Applauded by Prudence
Justice Disarmed by Innocence and Applauded by Prudence c1766 by French Painter Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée (1724 – 1805); known as Lagrenée The Elder, was a Rococo period painter and court painter to Elizabeth, Empress of Russia.
This is a beautiful portrait of three figures representing the virtues of human society with Justice being represented by an adult female, Prudence being represented by a teenage female and Innocence being represented by a very young child.
In the scene, justice or Justitia (the Roman goddess of justice), has her left arm outstretched and in her left hand is holding the scales of justice (which symbolize the balance between truth and fairness), with each of the brass bowls of the scale, containing what appears to be laurel leaves.
With her outstretched right arm, her hand is holding the top portion of the Sword of Justice (which signifies supreme judicial power); while the child with rest its right hand on the wrist of Justice and with its left hand pulls the sword away.
As this is going on Prudence who is holding a brass mirror in her right hand and a brass helmet with red feathers trailing off the back end, is looking up and speaking to Justice as she rest her right forearm on the right thigh of justice and has her left upturned left hand on the left thigh of Justice pointing to the child.
Justice is dressed in a white robe with her left breast exposed, a red cloak wrapped around her waist and over her legs, with a brass head band; while Prudence is dressed in a white robe with her right breast exposed and wrapped in a gold cloak, while the child has no clothes on but is sitting on a blue cloak.
This all occurs in the heavenly state as all three figures are among the clouds sitting on the clouds up in the sky.
This is a remastered digital art old masters reproduction of a public domain image that is available as a canvas print online.
Info Below Derived From Wikipedia.org
Louis was born in Paris, France in 1724, and was the eldest of two brothers, both destined to become noted French painters; and from an early age demonstrated an aptitude for drawing and painting.
Louis started his artistic through the École royale des élèves protégés or Royal School for Protected Pupils, which was established in 1748 under the direction of Charles Antoine Coypel (1694 – 1752) by the King of France Louis XV.
The master painters of the French Royal Academy offered artistic course to the public for a nominal fee in drawing and the principles and techniques of art; this would allow the masters to select from those who enrolled in the course, six of the most gifted individuals on an annual basis that would be offered free tuition and a small stipend for three years; and prepare the students for the Prix de Rome competitions.
After he was selected for the program, Louis began his training under the guidance of Carle van Loo (1705 – 1765); and on his first attempt in 1749 won the Prix de Rome with his Biblical painting “Joseph interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh”.
During his time at the French Academy in Rome Louis would dedicate his time to the Baroque painting style; which was inspired by the Bolognese School and the works of Italian Painters Francesco Albani (1578 – 1660) and Guido Reni (1575–1642).
Four years later he would return to France, and began work on The Abduction of Dejaneira by the Centaur Nessus; upon finishing the piece 2 years later in 1755, it earned him with a unanimous vote, membership to the Académie de Peinture and Sculpture; establishing him as a prominent painter.
From this time on Louis would receive many commissions from eminent patrons, members of the growing financial community, as well as royalty; when he caught the attention of Elizabeth Petrovna, Empress of Russia, who, in 1760, appointed him court painter and the director of the Academy at St. Petersburg.