Divine Justice
James Barry Irish
Not on view
Based on a drawing now at the Met (2015.44), this print reproduces key figures from Elysium and Tartarus (1777–83), the enormous painting Barry executed for the Society of Arts, London. Barry, who received little recompense for the latter commission, decided to disseminate his ideas through a set of etchings, but he was dissatisfied with a 1792 image (see 2018.353) that necessarily reduced the number of figures in the related painting. In 1802 he conceived of six large prints devoted to key compositional groups, two as a pendant pair: Divine Justice and The Angelic Guards. (the present work and 2016.596). Together, these convey the idea that the greatest legacy of the powerful historical figures portrayed was their patronage of the arts.
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