Justice, from the Cardinal Virtues

Justice, from the Cardinal Virtues

Nicolaes de Bruyn

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The blindfolded female figure Justice is depicted holding a scale in her right hand and a sword in her left, framed in an oval. Surrounding the oval, ornament design with a bearded mask above, flanked by birds pecking at his eyes. At bottom, an owl flanked by peacocks. From a series of four plates.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Justice, from the Cardinal VirtuesJustice, from the Cardinal VirtuesJustice, from the Cardinal VirtuesJustice, from the Cardinal VirtuesJustice, from the Cardinal Virtues

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.