Studio: international art (22.1901)

An American Decorator

The Appellate Court House, of which Mr. James
Brown Lord is architect, though small, as public
buildings go (some fifty by one hundred feet) is one
of the most striking buildings in New York. It forms
a beautiful ensemble in white ; for the architect's
constructional lines (following the Corinthian style),
together with the glyptic adornment of the sculp-
tures and the rich colour of the mural paintings
that cover its interior walls, unite as architecture,
sculpture and painting have never before united in
a New York building. In the large, square court-
room, lighted by a round dome of amber-coloured
glass, are mural paintings by Messrs. Kenyon Cox,
Geo. W. Maynard, Joseph Lauber, H. C. Walker,
Edward E. Simmons, and E. H. Blashfield; Messrs.
Mowbray, Reid, Metcalf, and Turner being repre-
sented in the entrance. Mr. Blashfield's composi-
tion is the right-hand of three panels facing the
judge's dais, each of which contains a group in some
way emblematic of the law. In the central panel,
The Wisdom of /he Law, by Mr. Walker, the motto
is " Doth not Wisdom cry and Understanding put
forth her Voice ? By me Brinces rule and Nobles,
even all the Judges of the Earth." For Mr.
Simmons's left-hand panel, The Justice cf the Law, the
theme is Justice protecting Beace and Brosperity
and restoring Force; while it is to exemplify the
words, "Uphold the Right, Frevent the Wrong,"
that Mr. Blashfield's panel is painted as typifying
The Power of the Law. The central figure,
representing Justice, is one of his happiest
creations. She is of the Mary Anderson type,
in white drapery, with a wealth of chestnut
hair, deep-set eyes, a classical clear-cut nose and
mouth, a square jaw, a Venus-like throat; with
her sword half drawn from the scabbard, she
stands Bortia-like, pronouncing her fiat. On
either side are lawyers, gowned in black, holding
records of the law, one of whom wears a powdered

wig, typifying, perhaps, the Colonial Bar, perhaps
the English Law which America has inherited,
and between them a suppliant woman, with out-
stretched arms, kneels before Justice; she is
simply clad in green. The foregoing figures are
all clothed in single colours, but in the others of
the group notes of rich mottled colours appear ; a
figure of the Roman Law at our left side being
draped in a green toga, which, with his sandals, is
richly-patterned with gold ; the figure of a bishop
on the opposite side, representing the Canonical
Law, wears a purple robe lavishly brocaded
with gold of Venetian design; and a figure
of an Anglo-Saxon, typifying Common Law, is
caparisoned in equally sumptuous embroidery.
Not only has the artist introduced and emphasised
the gold embroidery and rich trappings, but he is
ever ready to introduce spots of pleasing form and
colour where least expected; for example, each
lawyer holds in his hands a codex of laws, and
from these volumes are pendant two red seals
which the artist has used most knowingly as colour
notes in his composition. So throughout Mr.
Blashfield's work the most insignificant object is
laid hold of for the purpose of adorning his com-
position. The hair of the floating figures is
auburn, the hair of the two children holding
the shields is of the characteristic straw colour
of childhood, the shields are of a deep shrimp
pink ; the sash about the waist of Justice, which
holds her sword, is an orange ■ chrome. Behind
the head of Justice is a counterfeit of gold mosaic,
which surrounds the head like a radiant halo.
Moreover, where tints that are usually achromatic
are used, Mr. Blashfield gives a tincture of warmth
such as might be taken from extraneous reflected
lights. The gowns of common and civil law are
not inky black, but a beautiful blackish grey; and
the green gown of the suppliant woman has no