The Personification of Justice

Copy after: Giovanni dal Ponte (in circa 1475-1500)

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Specifications

Title	The Personification of Justice
Material and technique	Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white (partially oxidized), on purple/violet prepared paper (recto); yellow-brown prepared paper (verso)
Object type	Drawing > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is in storage

Dimensions	Height 153 mm Width 105 mm
Artists	Copy after: Giovanni dal Ponte Previously attributed: Anoniem
Accession number	I 107 (PK)
Credits	Loan Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (former Koenigs collection), 1940
Department	Drawings & Prints
Acquisition date	1940
Creation date	in circa 1475-1500
Watermark	not possible to determine, insufficient visibility (vH, 2P)
Collector	Collector / Franz Koenigs
Mark	F.W. Koenigs (L.1023a) on frgament of removed backing sheet
Provenance	Franz W. Koenigs (1881-1941, L.1023a), Haarlem, acquired in 1920-1930 (Florentine, second half 15th century); D.G. van Beuningen (1877-1955), Rotterdam, acquired with the Koenigs Collection in 1940 and donated to Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Exhibitions	Paris 2014, no. 2
Research	Show research Italian Drawings 1400-1600
Literature	Byam Shaw 1983, pp. 4-6 under no. 2 (Giovanni dal Ponte, follower); Paris 1984, p. 4, no. 2; Forlani Tempesti 1991, p. 181, no. 5, under no. 64
Material	Paper > Vegetable material > Organic material > Material > Material and technique Pen > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique Brown ink > Ink > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique
Object	Drawing > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Technique	Washing > Wash > Drawing technique > Technique > Material and technique Washing > Wash > Drawing technique > Technique > Material and technique Highlight > Painting technique > Technique > Material and technique
Geographical origin	Italy > Southern Europe > Europe
Place of manufacture	Florence > Tuscany > Italy > Southern Europe > Europe

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Entry catalogue Italian Drawings 1400-1600

Author: Gert Jan van der Sman

This drawing is one of a series of personifications of the seven virtues, which also includes the allegories Hope (I 5) and Fortitude (I 533).^[1] It is generally accepted that the three sheets were part of a sketchbook. The artist created variation in the colours of the preparation layers and prepared the versos of the drawings in different shades. This lack of uniformity would suggest that the drawings were primarily designed for use in an artist’s workshop.

More than for Hope and Fortitude, the technical execution of this drawing points to a date towards the end of the fifteenth century. The handling of the line is rather loose in some places. The anonymous draughtsman also applied light washes to accentuate the shadows of the folds. White highlights were added very sparingly.

The image follows the traditional Justice iconography as we know it from, for instance, Francesco Pesellino (c.1422-1457), except that here the umbrella-shaped aureole is missing.^[2]Whoever drew this sheet may have allowed himself some liberties with regard to the early fifteenth-century example he had, and designed Justice’s helmet to please himself.