Jurisprudence

Engraving, part of a series of twelve oval prints with allegorical representations of Minerva, Wisdom, the sciences and liberal arts. Most of them are represented by female figures (the exception being Physics, represented by Apollo), surrounded by pastoral landscapes, some of them with small towns with medieval buildings in the background. In the representations of liberal arts, Delaune depicts more detailed landscapes with fragments of classical architecture. This print presents an allegory of Jurisprudence, consisting of a standing woman with her head turned to the left, playing the lute, possibly an attribute of Polyhymnia. At her feet, on the left, is a balance, and on the right are two books and two broken columns. The two columns and two books symbolize, according to traditional iconography, civil rights and Roman Law.