Justicia (Justice), ca. 1559 – ca. 1560

About the Work

The caption emphasizes the necessity of penalization, but the cruel enforcement of the same gives cause for doubt. People are being tormented, tortured, and killed here by every means imaginable. At the same time, depictions of people who have obtained justice through the legal system are entirely absent. The question arises as to whether we are to understand the scenes as confirmation of the most severe punishment or criticism of the judicature.