Mario Sironi

(Sassari 1885 – Milan 1961)

Justice. Studio per il mosaico Justice flanked by the Law, bearing the tables

written, and by a youthful figure, a symbol of strength, bearing the Beam with Truth in the courtroom

Of the First Section of the Court of Criminal Appeals of the Milan Palace of Justice, 1936-39

Tempera and pencil on dusting paper [applicata su tela], 154.5 x 246.2 cm
Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art “Filippo de Pisis,” inv. 1003

Donated to the museum by Mimi Costa, the artist’s heir, the monumental painting is a preparatory study for the mosaic Justice flanked by the Law, bearing the written tablets, and a youthful figure, a symbol of strength, bearing the Beam with Truth created by Sironi between 1936 and 1939 for the Palace of Justice in Milan. The architectural complex, designed by Marcello Piacentini, is an accomplished example of the Fascist “classical” and “modern” celebratory style and “of an organic fusion of works of art,” in which Sironi’s mosaic is one of the most relevant elements. With its monumental and solemn figures, which punctuate the wall like a colonnade, it testifies to a perfect integration with its surroundings, while the choice of mosaic is inspired by the model of collaboration between architects, artists and artisans of the Romanesque cathedral building sites. The aim is to revive the civic role of art in spreading the values of the new society, according to the principles of the Manifesto of Mural Painting signed by Sironi, Campigli, Carrà and Funi in 1933 and implemented in the pervasive decorative campaigns promoted by the regime.

The Ferrara study represents an embryonic idea of decoration in which the allegory of Justice is already fairly defined. Fixed in a hieratic and inexpressive attitude befitting a symbol, she is clothed in a classical white tunic, an expression of purity and spirituality, and is flanked by the scales, a symbol of impartial judgment. The theme of the trunk also returns in the mosaic, which here is declined both in the trees of a leafy forest and in a dry shrub related to the depiction of a damned. As is often the case in Sironi’s work, figures and natural elements have equivalent value, as they contribute to building the compositional scaffolding of the work, following the authoritative example of the Big bathers by Cézanne. The powerful figurations in this work highlight some of the distinctive features of Sironi’s research, such as the formal references, from Giotto to Michelangelo, and archaic accent that take the scene away from the present and deliver it to the dimension of history.