Le Triomphe de la Justice

In the upper register, at the centre, Religion thrones draped in white, holding the chalice; leaning on her knees, Justice holds the scales and the hand of justice. At their right, Authority holds in one hand the keys of its spiritual empire and in the other the sceptre with the fleur-de-lis, symbol of temporal power; dressed in green, Truth holds a great book, while a sun bursts behind the group. Jean Jouvenet, dit le grand, the great decorator of the late Baroque in France, painted this allegorical triumph about 1695 with the broad, assured handling and solemn grandeur of his ceilings for the royal churches and the Hôtel des Invalides. The painting is held in the Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-arts de la Ville de Paris.