Artwork Information

This is a fully realised, preparatory sketch for Maclise's fresco in the House of Lords, London, and shows the personification of Justice between Mercy and Retribution, with Lay and Ecclesiastical Judges below. On the right a murderer is constrained by his accuser, who grasps the offending weapon, and on the left an armed knight throws down a gauntlet on behalf of the victim's widow and children. In the fore-ground an emancipated slave and a free citizen kneel. The painting represents the humanitarian ideals of the period.