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The Law

Year1909
Classification painting
Medium oil on canvas
Dimensions22' x 12'
Credits Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
  • Female figure seated in the center of the canvas.  Angels standing on either side of her pointing to an inscription of the Decalogue upon a table of stone which fills the whole center of the panel and passes up beyond and above the picture.  One of the angels indicates with its finger the commandment "Thou Shalt Not Kill".  A female figure crouches at the feet of "The Law" and clings to her knees.  At the left, beginning from the center, ar Moses, Mahomet, Justinian and a Bishop and a Knight.  At the right are Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, Napoleon and Lord Mansfield.