Untitled [scales of justice]

Joseph Edward Southall 1861 - 1944

Summary

In the central foreground of the composition is a tall female figure facing towards the viewer but with her head turned to the left. She is standing with bare feet in a long dress with material bonds across her chest, hips and knees and her loose hair is covered with a headscarf. Her left arm is bound to her side by the wrist but her right arm is lifted, holding up a pair of scales which are traditionally a symbol of justice. She is quite isolated as she is clearly standing on a cliff, the edge of which is visible in the bottom left hand corner and running from the middle ground back to the top right hand corner. This means that she is separated from the two men fighting in the top left hand corner on the opposite side of the crevice. They are fighting in front of a group of trees and one man is kneeling on the ground whilst the other man is standing with one arm around the kneeling man’s neck and his other arm holding a sword pointing towards the man’s stomach. The view beyond the two men to the right is of a cloudy sky and continuing cliffs. In the bottom right hand corner is a signature and the date 1906.