The Art of Law: Artistic Representations and Iconography of Law and Justice in Context, from the Middle Ages to the First World War

462 Pages·2018·16.5 MB·English

by  Stefan Huygebaert

Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice 66
Stefan Huygebaert · Georges Martyn 
Vanessa Paumen · Eric Bousmar 
Editors
Xavier Rousseaux   
The Art of
Law
Artistic Representations and
Iconography of Law and Justice in
Context, from the Middle Ages to the
First World War
Ius Gentium: Comparative
Perspectives on Law and Justice
Volume 66
Series editors
Mortimer Sellers, University of Baltimore
James Maxeiner, University of Baltimore
Board of Editors
Myroslava Antonovych, Kyiv-Mohyla Academy
Nadia de Araújo, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Jasna Bakšic-Muftic, University of Sarajevo
David L. Carey Miller, University of Aberdeen
Loussia P. Musse Félix, University of Brasilia
Emanuel Gross, University of Haifa
James E. Hickey Jr., Hofstra University
Jan Klabbers, University of Helsinki
Cláudia Lima Marques, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul
Aniceto Masferrer, University of Valencia
Eric Millard, West Paris University
Gabriël A. Moens, Curtin University
Raul C. Pangalangan, University of the Philippines
Ricardo Leite Pinto, Lusíada University of Lisbon
Mizanur Rahman, University of Dhaka
Keita Sato, Chuo University
Poonam Saxena, University of Delhi
Gerry Simpson, London School of Economics
Eduard Somers, University of Ghent
Xinqiang Sun, Shandong University
Tadeusz Tomaszewski, Warsaw University
Jaap de Zwaan, Erasmus University Rotterdam
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/7888
Stefan Huygebaert Georges Martyn
(cid:129)
Vanessa Paumen Eric Bousmar
(cid:129)
Xavier Rousseaux
Editors
The Art of Law
Artistic Representations and Iconography
of Law and Justice in Context,
from the Middle Ages to the First World War
123
Editors
StefanHuygebaert EricBousmar
Department ofArt, Ghent Legal Centrederecherches enhistoire
History Institute, FWO dudroit et des institutions
(ResearchFoundation Flanders) UniversitéSaint-Louis
GhentUniversity Brussels, Belgium
Ghent, Belgium
Xavier Rousseaux
Georges Martyn Centred’histoiredudroitet dela justice
GhentLegal History Institute Universitécatholique deLouvain
GhentUniversity Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Ghent, Belgium
Vanessa Paumen
Flemish researchcentre forthe arts of the
BurgundianNetherlands, MuseaBrugge
Bruges, Belgium
ISSN 1534-6781 ISSN 2214-9902 (electronic)
Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives onLawandJustice
ISBN978-3-319-90786-4 ISBN978-3-319-90787-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90787-1
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Preface
Thiseditedvolumeistheresultofafruitfulcooperationbetweenhistorians,jurists,
art historians and legal historians, and assembles a selection ofpapers presentedat
the international conference The Art of Law. Artistic Representations and
Iconography of Law and Justice in Context, from the Middle Ages to the First
World War, held in Bruges (Belgium) from 16 to 18 January 2017. The academic
meetingwasorganisedbytheFlemishresearchcentrefortheartsoftheBurgundian
Netherlands (Musea Brugge) and the Ghent Legal History Institute (Ghent
University), and had its venue in the Groeningemuseum.
From 28 October 2016 through 5 February 2017, the museum hosted the
exhibitionTheArtofLaw.ThreeCenturiesofJusticedepicted.Thisartexhibition,
curated by Vanessa Paumen and Tine Van Poucke, featured about 130 artworks
from over 30 national and international museums, libraries and private collections
andfocusedonthemesrelatedtojusticeasexpressedinartworks ofvariousmedia
from about 1450 through 1750. The curators, together with Georges Martyn and
Stefan Huygebaert from the Legal History Institute of Ghent University, aimed to
demonstratehowstronglyinterconnectedartandlawwereduringthisperiod.Inthe
second chapter of this contributed volume, Vanessa Paumen, curator of the exhi-
bition, briefly describes the objectives and particular features of the exhibition and
highlights some exhibited artworks and objects.
Referring to the exhibition, an open call for papers was published via various
history, art history and legal history networks. The scientific committee of the
conference was composed of Prof. Marc Boone (Ghent University, Medieval
History), Prof. Eric Bousmar (Université Saint-Louis Brussels, Centre de
Recherches en Histoire du Droit et des Institutions), Prof. Bruno Dewever (Ghent
University, Contemporary History), Drs. Stefan Huygebaert (Ghent University/
FWO, Art History), Prof. Samuel Mareel (Museum Hof van Busleyden Malines,
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, Ghent University), Prof. Georges Martyn
(Ghent University, Faculty of Law and Criminology), Vanessa Paumen (Flemish
research centre for the arts in the Burgundian Netherlands, Musea Brugge), Prof.
XavierRousseaux(UniversitécatholiquedeLouvain,Centred’HistoireduDroitet
de la Justice) and Prof. Nathalie Tousignant (Université Saint-Louis Brussels,
v
vi Preface
Centrederecherchesenhistoiredudroitetdesinstitutions).Fromthemorethan50
proposals, the committee selected 25 researchers to present a paper on aspects of
legal iconography and legal iconology. This list was completed by eight invited
speakers, renowned scholars who have been publishing on the interdisciplinary
subject of art and law in the past years. The interaction among the participants,
youngerandmoreexperiencedscholars,jurists,criminologists,anthropologists,art
historians and general historians, led to innovative insights and attractive new
hypotheses.
Aftertheconference,theorganisersinvitedaselectionofthespeakerstodeliver
a text for publication, asking them to take into account the discussions during the
conference, and the remarks made by independent external reviewers. As a result,
the present book does not contain the complete proceedings of the whole 3-day
conference.Financiallimitationobligedtheeditorstomakeachoice,based,onthe
one hand,on thequality of thepresentedpapers,and, ontheother,on theconcern
tomakearelevantandcoherentbook(assomekindofsecondpaneltothediptych
constituted together with the catalogue of the exhibition mentioned above). Peer
reviewbybothartandlegalhistoriansguaranteethehighlevelofthecontributions.
The editors wish to thank all speakers and participants for the thought-provoking
discussions, and the contributors to this book for taking into account the remarks
and suggestions made by the editors and the external reviewers.
Acknowledgements are also due to the subsidising institutions, who made both
theconferenceandtheseproceedingspossible:theFondsNationaldelaRecherche
ScientifiqueFNRS,ResearchFoundationFlanders(FWO),Flemishresearchcentre
fortheartsoftheBurgundianNetherlands(MuseaBrugge)and,mostprominently,
the Belgian Federal Science Policy Department’s Interuniversity Attraction Pole
‘Justice and Populations: The Belgian Experience in International Perspective,
1795–2015’. This inter-university research project includes both Belgian univer-
sities and other scientific institutions, as well as several international partners. The
fourth work package of the Interuniversity Attraction Pole (P7/22) ‘Long term
(Self-) Representations of Justice’ focuses on post-1795 legal iconography, which
perfectly fits in the scope of the conference.
The first part of this contributed volume gives a general introduction to the
subject of historical legal iconography and iconology, particularly focusing on the
subject of justice administration. In the first chapter, the editors situate the overall
theme and briefly introduce how the several contributors handle various aspects
of the broad topic. Vanessa Paumen, curator of the aforementioned exhibition,
shineslightonhowjusticewasdepictedintheEarly ModernEra,highlightingthe
main themes and artworks of the exhibition. Dr. Carolin Behrmann, keynote
speaker at the conference, elaborates on early modern iconology.
Parts II–Vcontainvariouscasestudies from Westernart. Thesecond partdeals
with classical exempla justitiae as part of the decoration of courtrooms and justice
places (incl. churches), while the third part concentrates on the representation of
judges, lawyers, their work and their symbols. Part IV has chapters on artworks in
Preface vii
criminal lawandcriminal justice administrationinart.Thelastpartisdedicatedto
courtroom decorations in the long nineteenth century. The very first chapter of the
first part explicitly weaves threads between the various contributions: evolving
iconography, shifting symbolism, analogies and antinomies and comparative
remarks.
Ghent, Belgium Stefan Huygebaert
Ghent, Belgium Georges Martyn
Bruges, Belgium Vanessa Paumen
Brussels, Belgium Eric Bousmar
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium Xavier Rousseaux
Acknowledgements
This book has been published with the support of
(cid:129) The Interuniversity Attraction Poles, programme initiated by the Belgian
SciencePolicyOffice(InteruniversityAttractionPole‘JusticeandPopulations:
The Belgian Experience in International Perspective, 1795–2015’)
(cid:129) FWO—Research Foundation Flanders
(cid:129) FNRS—Fund for Scientific Research Wallonia-Brussels Federation
ix
Contents
Part I Law, Justice and Art in Historical Perspective
1 Twenty New Contributions to the Upcoming Research Field
of Historical Legal Iconology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Georges Martyn and Stefan Huygebaert
1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 The ‘Art of Law’ in the Sense of Historical Legal
Iconology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Law and Art in the Wider Field of Law and the Humanities . . . 7
1.4 Twenty New Contributions to Historical Legal Iconology . . . . . 10
1.4.1 General Thoughts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.4.2 Moralising Law and Justice Representations
in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Era. . . . . . 11
1.4.3 Lawyers and Justices: Their Books, Their Work,
Their Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4.4 Criminal Justice: Art, Object and Locus. . . . . . . . . . . . 17
1.4.5 Justice Architecture and Decorations in the Long
Nineteenth Century. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.5 Illustrative Iconography, Elucidating Iconology, Indexes,
New Horizons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2 The Exhibition The Art of Law. Three Centuries of Justice
Depicted. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Vanessa Paumen
2.1 A Thematic Approach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2 Divine Judgment, Worldly Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.3 Exempla Justitiae: Inspiring Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
xi