The Justice of Trajan is an 1840 history painting by the French romantic artist Eugène Delacroix.Friedlaender p.126Allard & Fabre p.99 It illustrates the Justice of Trajan, a legendary story about the Roman Emperor Trajan.Rosenblum p.103 The subject is taken from Dante’s Purgatory song X.https://mbarouen.fr/en/oeuvres/the-justice-of-trajan Before departing for the Dacian Wars, Trajan was petitioned by a widow seeking justice for her murdered husband. He delayed his departure in order to personally render justice. The subject was likely to have been suggested by Delacroix's friend Frédéric Villot.https://mbarouen.fr/en/oeuvres/the-justice-of-trajan
The painting was displayed at the Salon of 1840 at the Louvre in Paris. It also featured in a retrospective of Delacroix's works at the Salon of 1855, held as part of the Exposition Universelle. Today it is in the collection of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Rouen.https://pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/joconde/00000063098 But originally the painting was supposed to be sent to Bordeaux, but the artist asked for it to be sent to Rouen in honor of Géricault´s memory.https://mbarouen.fr/en/oeuvres/the-justice-of-trajan
References
Bibliography Allard, Sébastien & Fabre, Côme. Delacroix. Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2018. Friedlaender, Walter F. David to Delacroix. Harvard University Press, 1952. Rosenblum, Robert. Transformations in Late Eighteenth Century Art. Princeton University Press, 1970.