The Triumph of Justice

The Triumph of Justice by Leon Kroll depicts a symbolic landscape that celebrates the fruits of justice in a prosperous society. On the left, a woman in white represents the allegorical figure of Justice. She raises one hand in a peaceful gesture known as the sign of benediction, which is frequently found in Christian imagery. Behind her, a robed figure of the Law assists a line of people as they ascend a hill. Kroll described this action as “leading the underprivileged out of misery to the promised land.” He modeled the judge after Supreme Court Justice Harlan Stone. The artist noted that Stone had “a very solid, strong and intelligent face, without it being too picturesque.” He sketched the judge from life, after which he wrote, “I think Justice Stone is one of the greatest men I ever met.” In the painting, Stone clasps the hand of a laborer in a miner’s cap, who is followed by a mother and child, and then another man with arms raised in thanksgiving. Behind them, a group of factories extends in the distance, but the chimneys produce no smoke. A new building is under construction in the upper right register of the painting, and to the left of the central scene, farmers plow the land and plant seeds for a bountiful harvest. To the right, three figures with books and a violin relax on the grass. Both episodes celebrate the freedoms of a just society.

The Triumph of Justice is located in a raised lunette in the conference room of the Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C. At the other end of the room, Kroll painted its counterpart, The Defeat of Justice, which imagines a different existence in the same setting, now transformed into a barren landscape. The same figures who enjoyed the freedoms of justice in The Triumph of Justice are instead terrorized by a masked figure and other tormentors in The Defeat of Justice. Originally, the Section of Painting and Sculpture commissioned Kroll to paint the mural series illustrating the Great Codifiers of the Law, while Grant Wood was offered these two locations. After Wood rejected the commission, Boardman Robinson painted the Great Codifiers of the Law, and Kroll was reassigned the two lunettes. The Section suggested the subjects of Victory of the Law and Defeat of the Law, which Kroll altered to focus on justice instead, because he said that “laws may or may not be just.”

Kroll’s two murals were well received upon their unveiling. Justice Stone praised them as “stunning” and “beautiful,” noting their “fine rhythm… lovely use of color… and wholly modern touch,” and expressed admiration for Kroll’s ability to give direct, concrete expression to abstract ideas.