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Justice and Abundance

Justice and Abundance

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Theodoor van Thulden

Theodor van Thulden worked with Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) on festival decorations for Antwerp. His works included portraits, political allegories, and designs for stained glass windows for the cathedral in Brussels. The two allegorical figures in Justice and Abundance, show the influence of Rubens, but the composition itself is manneristic, intended to evoke emotion. The woman on the left carries a balance to weigh good and evil and a sword near her right knee to punish wrongdoers. Justice has knocked over a money box, indicating her immunity to bribes. She links arms with Abundance, who is garlanded with flowers and dressed in green to symbolize fertility. The attributes of Abundance are the cornucopia, connoting riches, and the caduceus, which here stands for peace, wisdom, and virtue.
Artist
Theodoor van Thulden
(Flemish, 1606 - 1669)
Title
Justice and Abundance
Date
1661
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
53 x 63 1/2 in. Overall
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Marc B. Rojtman
Accession No.
58.4.5
Classification
Paintings
Geography
Belgium

Related

Before 1851, Baron Anne Willem Carel Nagel van Ampsen (The Hague, Netherlands); 15 November 1946, sold in anonymous sale at Christie’s London (lot 100, as "Justice and Flora") to Gibb or Kitto; by 1958, acquired by Mr. and Mrs. Marc B. Rojtman (Milwaukee, WI); November 1958, gifted to the University of Wisconsin–Madison; 1967, transferred to Elvehjem Art Center [now called Chazen Museum of Art]

  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "Handbook of the Collection." Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, 1990. no. 42
  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "Bulletin/Elvehjem Art Center Bulletin/Annual Report 1973-1974. p. 21

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