LADY JUSTICE AND THE ARCHANGEL: THE LIKENESS OF JUSTICE IN HEAVEN AND EARTH - Comparative Iconography of Justice

Aug 28, 2026

Sword and scales in Christian and legal imagery identify justice through distinct representative figures: Saint Michael the Archangel in Christian art and Iustitia (Lady Justice) in profane legal contexts. Rarely shown together, their visual similarities rest on shared attributes that carry contrasting meanings. The article compares iconography and investigates whether image interpretation depends on attributes or on the personification itself, while considering to what extent angels and personifications function as “persons.”

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time31 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Identification

Attributes

Conclusion

References

LADY JUSTICE AND THE ARCHANGEL: THE LIKENESS OF JUSTICE IN HEAVEN AND EARTH Edina Eszenyi1 Abstract Sword and the scales in the hands identify the personification of justice, be it heavenly or profane. The representative of divine justice in Christian art is Saint Michael, the Archangel, while the representative of justice in profane legal contexts is the figure of Iustitia. The two figures rarely ever appear in the same context. Despite the almost identical artistic depictions, their association with the common attributes is based on contrasting, if not opposite, concepts. The article discusses the iconography of the two figures from a comparative perspective and ponders the role of attributes in the reading of their images. Is the message conveyed by the attribute or by the representative person in the case of common attributes? How much can an angel and a personification be regarded as persons at all? What chains the figures to the concept of justice, and to what extent can their artistic attributes entitle the bearers to the concept they represent? Through the examination of diverting associations conceived by strikingly similar compositions, the article explores the meeting points and diversions of Justice in heaven and on earth. Keywords Lady Justice. Saint Michael the Archangel. Legal Iconography. Scales. Sword. Blindfold. Summary 1. Introduction. 2. Identification. 3. Attributes. 4. Conclusion. 5. References. 1 Ph.D. in Medieval and Early Modern Studies (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK, 2014, thesis: On Perfect and Imperfect Angels: A Catholic Reformer’s Angelology from the LateSixteenth Century Veneto), Lecturer in General Didactics and Ecology at HEI Pegaso International, Malta; Lecturer in Italian Art and Cultural Heritage at Pegaso University, Naples; Expert Witness before the European Court of Human Rights; Avvocatura Generale dello Stato, Rome, Office of the State Attorney General. 1. INTRODUCTION Visualizing justice as a non-subjective concept is easier said than done, but luckily, art jumps in to help. In profane legal contexts, the representative of justice is the figure of Iustitia or Lady Justice in her more common name; while in Christian art, divine justice is represented by Saint Michael the Archangel. Lady Justice commonly appears in and around courtroomsand other judicial institutions; the Archangel is believed to weigh souls atthe Last Judgment to define the otherworldly fate of the deceased. Giotto‟s fresco in the Cappella degli Scrovegni in Padova (circa 1306); Ambrogio Lorenzetti‟s Allegory of the Good Government in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena (circa 1339); and the recently unveiled tondo made by Raphael for Pope Julius II in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura are perhaps the best-known artistic renderings of Lady Justice. Less common in Italian art, the „weighing of souls‟ or „psychostasis ‟ is a common iconographical type of the Archangel in the North, the two most famous images arguably decorating the winged altars of Rogier van der Weyden (circa 1450) and Hans Memling (circa 1470) . Both Lady Justice and Saint Michael are supposed to render the invisible and the symbolic into an intellectually more discernible form, while they share the sword and the scales of justice as common attributes in these images. The following article provides a comparison of the two figures as a challenge toreconsider the characteristics of justice and the human understanding of symbols through the use oficonographical attributes in art. 2. IDENTIFICATION Historically speaking, the two representatives have little to do with eachother, even though the profane representative actually also has her roots in the divine world. The Latin name Iustitia originates from Greek ideas adopted by the ancient Romans. Within Greek mythology, the concept of justice was personified by various goddesses in charge of justice in diverging senses of the word. Themis and Dike are perhaps the most commonly referen

FAQs

What two figures represent justice in the article’s comparative framework?

The article contrasts Saint Michael the Archangel in Christian art with Iustitia, commonly known as Lady Justice, in profane legal contexts.

Why do Lady Justice and Saint Michael appear in different contexts despite similar depictions?

Their visual similarities are based on shared attributes, but the associations rely on contrasting or even opposite concepts tied to each figure’s meaning.

How does the article approach reading justice through artistic attributes?

It asks whether the message is conveyed primarily by the attributes (such as sword and scales) or by the representative person, and examines how far the bearers’ artistic features justify the concept they represent.

Aug 28, 2026

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