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Study for "Divine Justice"

ca. 1802
Not on view
This drawing reproduces figures from the center of Barry’s painting Elysium and Tartarus (1777–83), which hangs in the Great Room of the Society of Arts, London, and celebrates "those great and good men of all ages and nations, who were cultivators and benefactors of mankind." At top, patrons of the arts include Trajan, Titus, Peter the Great, Henry IV of France, Andrea Doria of Genoa, Scipio Africanus, Cosimo de’ Medici, Alexander the Great, Louis XIV, and Pope Julius II. At center, the theologians Origen, Pascal, Bossuet, Antoine Arnauld, and Bishop Butler converse with angels. Below, the sublime form of Divine Justice tilts her scales toward the abyss to suggest that evil has generally prevailed over good in history.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Study for "Divine Justice"
  • Artist: James Barry (Irish, Cork 1741–1806 London)
  • Date: ca. 1802
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and gray wash over graphite
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 27 7/16 in. × 19 in. (69.7 × 48.3 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Charles and Jessie Price Gift, in honor of George R. Goldner, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.44
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
Satan, Sin, and Death: "Death and Sin met by Satan on his Return from Earth", James Barry Irish, Graphite, brush and brown ink, gray and brown wash heightened with touches of white
Satan, Sin, and Death: "Death and Sin met by Satan on his Return from Earth"
James Barry
Subject Relates to John Milton
1792–95
La table servie, Jacques Villon French, Graphite and black ink, squared in graphite, French
La table servie
Jacques Villon
1912
Job Reproved by His Friends, James Barry Irish, Etching over traces of aquatint; third state of five
Job Reproved by His Friends
James Barry
dated 1777; issued ca. 1790
The Dining Room, Paul Signac French, Graphite and ink on Japan paper
The Dining Room
Paul Signac
1886–87
Divine Justice, James Barry Irish, Etching and engraving; final published state
Divine Justice
James Barry
1808

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