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This is a sketch for a ceiling design, one of a set of three in the collection of Manchester Art Gallery. The building for which the designs were made has not been identified, but it seems likely that there was once a fourth design, as each of Manchester’s three works probably represents one of the cardinal virtues. These are the fundamental good qualities identified from ancient Greek philosophy onwards as prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice. Temperance is Manchester’s missing virtue. Together with its two companions, this sketch had been thought of as being by James Thornhill (1635–1734) since 1964, when it was acquired by the gallery. This attribution was questionable, as the work displays none of the smooth pictorial qualities that characterised English decorative painting in Thornhill’s time.
Chéron’s distinctive style can be recognised here, especially in the figure of Truth: she looks as if she were modelled from wax. She is the female nude, seated triumphally in the centre, holding a glinting mirror. Behind her cloud is the bearded figure of Time, who holds the scythe with which he is traditionally furnished. Justice is the crowned figure at the front, slightly left of centre. She holds a scale, and a sword rests by her knee. The nude female figure to the right of Justice is possibly occupied in wielding a flame to fight off figures representing vice. ‘Time, Truth and Justice’ was the title given to this painting until 2021.
Title
Justice
Date
1715–1725
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 24.5 x W 48.5 cm
Accession number
1964.57
Acquisition method
purchased from Dr A. Scharf, 1964
Work type
Painting
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