Vorzeichnung für das Titelblatt der Stichfolge "Thronus Justitiae"

Sketch for the Title Page of “Thronus Justitiae” is

among the few examples of an incised print design

in the oeuvre of Joachim Wtewael (1566–1638). The

artist made the design for the title page to accompany

thirteen prints of Thronus Justitiae, a sequence

of biblical, ancient, and medieval pictorial exempla

primarily concerned with the attributes desirable

in a judge (fig. 1).1 The plates were engraved by

the Leiden printmaker Willem van Swanenburgh

(1610/11–1674) and published by the Amsterdam

publisher Christoffel van Sichem I (1546–1624);

however, the title page was published in Antwerp,

by Pieter de Jode the Elder (1573–1634). Helliesen

suggests that the title page may have been made expressly

for the series’ presentation in the Southern

Netherlands as opposed to the Haarlem issue.2

Some scholars have proposed that Wtewael’s original

intention for the Thronus Justitiae was a decorative

scheme to adorn a town hall or courtroom,

rather than a print series.3 This type of subject

matter has historical precedents in civic chambers

of justice across the Low Countries. Wtewael did

make at least one other set of designs for stainedglass

windows with political subject matter for the

town hall in Woerden (see [94–96]). However, no

further information has surfaced regarding where

or for what body the designs were initially made.

Whatever the original intent, the Albertina title

page was certainly executed once it was determined

that the designs would culminate in a print series.

The drawing consists of a tablet, reserved for

the Latin title, within an architectural frame

adorned with caryatids and eight allegorical

figures. Helliesen explains that the figures as a

whole are exemplars of divine law and civic law.4

At the top are Moses, on the right, and Christ, on

the left, who flank Justitia herself in the center. As

representatives of the Old and New Law, Moses

and Christ support divine justice, which is eternal

and unchanging. In the niches to either side of

the structure are Solomon, right, and David, left,

who are associated with Wisdom and Prudence,

respectively. Solomon looks upward toward the

divine triumvirate, his wisdom being of the sort

that comprehends divine and human nature.5

David, on the other hand, looks down toward

the earthly realm, and his prudence is rightfully

employed in the practical application of superior

principles. Finally, seated below, on the socle, is

Justitia’s counterpart on earth, civic law. The figure

is flanked by symbols of common law and written

law. Common law is personified by Otanes, right,

the son of the corrupt judge Sisamnes, who sat on

a seat made from his father’s skin, here depicted

on the young man’s lap.6 The story exemplifies the

importance of a judge’s incorruptibility and in some

cases, severity. On the left is the judge Zaleucus,

who writhes in pain as his eye is gouged. In this

story, Zaleucus took the punishment on behalf

of his son, who had been sentenced to blindness

due to adultery.7 This tale illustrates the judicial

qualities of clemency and the disregard for personal

considerations.8

In his technique, Wtewael appears to have

carefully considered the nuances of light, volume,

and tonality that could be achieved with a printed

medium. His pen-and-ink delineation combined

with light- and dark-gray washes and white opaque

watercolor for highlights achieves a harmony

rarely matched in drawings of the time, while also

creating the trompe l’oeil effect of actual stone. The

technique closely parallels that of the 1608-dated

Study for a Goldsmith’s Piece, in London, but the

figures are more substantial.9 Even so, the figures

maintain a certain weightlessness and decorative

character that finds rhythm and resonance in the

ornamental details of the architectural frame. The

presence of fingerprints in the delicately washed

area below Christ’s cross brings us ever closer to the

artist’s hand.

 

1. Helliesen 1977, 25.

2. Helliesen 1977, 237.

3. Van de Waal 1952, 268; Helliesen 1977, 254–55. Helliesen

partly bases his analysis on the typically right-handed actions

that appear in the printed version with left hands, suggesting

that Wtewael did not originally design the compositions with

reversal in mind.

4. Helliesen 1977, 253.

5. Helliesen 1977, 253.

6. As told in Herodotus 5.5; Valerius Maximus 6.3.

7. As told in Aelianus, Var. Hist. 13.24; Valerius Maximus 6.5.3.

8. Helliesen 1977, 258.

9. Joachim Wtewael, Study for a Goldsmith’s Piece, 1608, pen and

brown ink, gray wash, heightened with white, on gray prepared

paper, 35.7 x 22.3 cm, British Museum, London, 1872,1012.3322;

see Lowenthal 1987, 217–18.

 

Emily J. Peters, Laura M. Ritter (Hg.), AK Tales of the City. Drawing in the Netherlands from Bosch to Bruegel, Cleveland Museum of Art 9.10.2022 - 8.1.2023, New Haven 2022, Kat. Nr. 90