A Day in Court

Mural: "The Power of the Law" by Edwin Howland Blashfield

I Spent a few hours inside the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division last week. Had to sit for a few minutes concentrating on getting my just mouth closed because the room is so awesome. Even with about 24 attorneys giving brief summaries of their appeals or responses to the five judges' questions there was not enough time to take in the entire room let alone sketch it. Closest to where I sat was the mural above "The Power of the Law". I enjoyed "reading all the symbols the muralist Edwin H. Blashfield where a woman in green kneels before Justice, who is drawing her sword. The appellant holds in one hand a petition against a peevish looking young man in fancy clothes, he holds his own scroll but we can only see its outline under his brocade cloak. Next to him a figure in judge's robes holds the book of Civil Law. The putto in front supports a red shield with a banner reading "Uphold the Right". The appellant's other hand, empty, is held up beseechingly, her palm facing justice and also in front of a man holding a book with a cross on its cover. He wears a simple crown and looks like every late nineteenth century representation of Jesus you've ever seen. Next to him, but not in my drawing, a man holds the book of Common Law somewhere to the lower right is another putto supporting a shield with a banner completing the motto marked "Prevent the Wrong". It's a formal, symmetrical composition with enough symbolism to chew on you don't mind waiting, although the attorneys waiting to do their thing are probably too anxious to take note. And I would have snapped a picture but for the fellow there in black kevlar. 

Judges, swamped by the bench but having a good time.

The bench is not only high up and far away but probably a small forest's worth of carved mahogany.

The fifth justice didn't fit into the spread but I couldn't leave her out.

The history of the court can be found here.