Untitled

Justice

By Carlo Franzoni (1789-1819)

Plaster, 1817

Catalog No. 25.00001

S-141, Old Supreme Court Chamber

U.S. Senate Collection
Office of Senate Curator

The plaster relief Justice, sculpted by Carlo Franzoni in 1817, appears on the west wall of the Old Supreme Court Chamber. The central figure, Justice, is seated and holds a pair of scales in her left hand; her right hand rests on an unsheathed sword. At the feet of Justice, an eagle guards several bound volumes representing the written laws. The third figure, signifying the new nation, is depicted by a winged youth, seated before a rising sun holding a large tablet symbolizing the Constitution of the United States.

Franzoni's Justice is one of the earliest works completed in the Capitol after the destruction of the building during the War of 1812.