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Justitiae
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Justitia, the Roman goddess of
Justice (in English often called "Lady Justice") is equivalent to the
Greek goddess Dike (illegitimate and rather unknown daughter of Zeuss).
"She is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial
systems", whatever that means. In other words: "She is the spirit of
moral order and fair judgement based on immemorial custom, in the sense of
socially enforced norms and conventional rules". It's not so easy to
define justice, it seems. |
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I collect Justitiae whenever I see
them and have a camera ready. So far all but one Justitiae have a sword, quite
a few but not all have a balance, and none has a
sheath for
her sword. That can only symbolize that they are not available for you know
what. |
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Here is a particularly interesting
one because she lives in Backnang, the town where I was born. |
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Justitia in Backnang; Germany |
Source: Photographed there in 2012
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The judicial system is not
always pretty to behold, and that's sometimes also true for the Ladies
symbolizing it. |
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Justitia in Coburg, Germany
At least, as the German saying goes, "sie hat ihr Herz am rechten
Fleck". |
Source: Photographed there in 2014
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Rather homely Justitia in Lüneburg;
Germany |
Source: Photographed there in 2012
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Note that this one carries a real executioners
sword, always without a tapered sharp tip (see
below).
The Lüneburger in their heydays could afford a spare Justitia and made her
a bit prettier: |
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Pretty Justitia in Lüneburg; Germany
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Source: Photographed there in 2012
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Here is a rather unusual one - no
sword! She resides in a small castle in Schmalkalden, Germany (the one with the
scythe weapon)
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Swordless Baroque Justitia in Schmalkalden;
Germany |
Source: Photographed there in 2013
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This Justitia is engraved
on a sword. The sword is a " Pallasch mit Scheide", Solingen 1664;
inscribed "Me vecit Solingen". It might be alluding to the victory
over Turks on Aug. 1664. The sword is shown in a
Dresden museum.
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Justitia "etched" or inlaid into a
17th century sword |
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Here is a new one - as far
as sculptures go. She is not called Justitia but "Verity". However, according to the artist (Damien
Hirst), she holds the traditional symbols denoting justice - a sword and
scales. Hirst said: "without the perfect equilibrium enacted by the
scales, the sword becomes a dangerous instrument of power, rather than
justice". True - especially because his (20 tall, left-handed, 45.000
pounds) damsel also doesn't have a sheath and appears to have severely cut
herself. |
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Verity, as seen in the Net |
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Here is a very nice and
traditional one, found on top of some building in Dublin, Ireland. If she ever
uses her sword, she would become partially undressed. |
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Irish Justitia |
Source: Photographed there in 2015
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Tallin,the capital of
Estonia, sports a somewhat disraught Justitia: |
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Estonian Justitia |
Source: Photographed there in 2015
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In Gdansk (Danzig),
Poland, you find many Justitiae, all pretty. Here are three: |
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Justitiae in Gdansk |
Source: Photographed there in 2015
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Even in the old and
unlamented DDR they had Justitias if not real justice. Here is one from the
castle Heidecksburg in Rudlstadt, the residence of the princes to
Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Contrary to general baroque traditions, this female is
rather flat-breasted |
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Rudolstadt Justitia |
Source: Photographed there in 2017
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Florence in Italy must
have several justitiae, here is the one from the Dome Museum |
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Florence Justitia. Blagio di Antonino Tuggi;
around 1470 |
Source: photographed in the Museum in 2018
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Of course, the ufficies, world-famous art museum,
boasts justitiae as well: |
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Florence Justitia. |
Source: photographed in the Museum in 2018
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Siena in Italy, competing
with Florence in the good old times, sports an interesting justitia somewhere
around the town center. |
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Siena Justitia |
Source: photographed in Siena in 2018
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She holds her sword like some disgusting object
and isn't so fond of the scales either. In contrast to almost all other marble
women found in Siena, Florence or other Italian cities of Renaissance fame, she
is no only not bare breasted but rather heavily clothed. Fed up with meting out
justice and with men, it seems.
A second one; inside the old City Hall (Pallazo Pubblico), is painted high up
on the ceiling (by one Domenico Beccafumi around1530). She holds her sword in a
monstrously large hand and her scale seems to be a dual purpose construction
since it looks like it it also serves as her bra. |
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Siena Justitia. |
Source: photographed inSiena in 2018
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Koper is a small but
thriving harbour town in Slowenia with a really good Justitia up there on some
old palace or town hall: |
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Koper Justitia. |
Source: photographed there in 2018
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Brussels, the capital of
Belgium (and of the European Union, sort of) features a pretty if confused
looking Justitia with a particular hue sword: |
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Brussels Justitia. |
Source: photographed there in 2019
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In Rome right at the Tiber
is an enormous palace of Justice with a Justitia (flanked by two groupies)
sitting high above the entrance. She carries an oversize sword (no sheath, of
course) and looks pretty grim: |
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Justitia in Rome |
Source: photographed there in 2019
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Finally some real
swords of justice without a Justitia attached: |
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Note the blunt points. The second
from the right sports an inscription saying something about giving eternal life
to the poor sinner. |
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(Used) executioners swords in Coburg;
Germany |
Source: Photographed there in 2014
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With a sword, beheading was usually done with the
delinquent standing, kneeling or siting in a chair. This took a bit of skill in
proper aiming and misses tended to be messy. The use of an axe plus a block
made thing a bit easier. Here is a sword and an axe / block combination, found
in the town museum of Saalfeld, Germany: |
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Executioners sword (late medieval), robe plus
axe and block (19th century) |
Source: Photographed in Saalfeld in 2017
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Signs of use |
Source: Photographed in Saalfeld in 2017
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As one can see, the aim was mostly pretty good
but occasional misses did happen. |
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With frame

Critical Museum Guide: Dresden
Critical Museum Guide: Museums in Copenhagen
Critical Museum Guide: Museums in Istanbul, Turkey
Critical Museum Guide: Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim, Germany
Critical Museum Guide: Archaeological Museum in Heraklion (Crete)
Critical Museum Guide: Landesmuseum Schleswig-Holstein in Schleswig,
Germany
Critical Museum Guide: "The Vikings" Special Exhibition from
Oct. 2014 - Jan. 2015 in the Martin-Gropius-Bau
The Ages
Swords and Symbols
Old Sagas, Heroes and Swords
Old Iron Things
© H. Föll (Iron, Steel and Swords script)