Justice, Truth and Reason in the Stocks with the Seated Judge and Sleeping Piety

probably 1526

Albrecht Dürer

Associated Names
Albrecht Dürer

Artist, German, 1471 - 1528

This drawing depicts figures representing virtues and vices in an allegorical scene. The central figures are labeled 'Gerechtigkeit' (Justice), 'Warhatt' (Truth), and 'Vernunft' (Reason). Justice holds a sword, while another authoritative figure on the right holds a rod and sits on a throne-like chair labeled 'Ich bin die frucht'. An infant is depicted in a cradle below this figure. The artwork includes symbolic characters and text elements in a style similar to woodcut illustrations from the late medieval or early Renaissance period.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    woodcut on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 16 × 31 cm (6 5/16 × 12 3/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.3689

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Meder, no. 241, Part 2

  • Series Title

    The Michelfeldt Tapestry: Allegory of Social Injustice

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1932d), 1929; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Bibliography

1932

  • Meder, Joseph. Dürer-Katalog; ein Handbuch über Albrecht Dürers Stiche, Radierungen, Holzschnitte, deren Zustände, Ausgaben und Wasserzeichen. Vienna: Verlag Gilhofer und Ranschburg, 1932. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971.

2001

  • Schoch, Rainer, Mattihas Mende, and Anna Scherbaum. Albrecht Dürer: Das druckgraphische Werk. Munich, 2001: vol. 2: no. A22 (2).

Watermarks

present but unidentified

Wikidata ID

Q18339709

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