Raphael Sanzio da Urbino was born & died #OTD (6 Apr 1483 – 6 Apr 1520). His depiction of Justice in the Vatican's Sala di Costantino fresco mural (c.1519-20) replaces her traditional sword with...an ostrich. But why?
Detail of Raphael's fresco mural of Pope Urban I depicting Lady Justice (labled JVSTITIA) seated to his right, with her usual scales in left hand but with an ostrich in her right instead of the usual sword. Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace, c.1519-20.
So here's how an ostrich got in there:
"Raphael’s oil mural Lady Justice in the Sala di Costantino, Vatican Palace, 1519-20. Replacing the traditional sword in Justice’s hand with a naturalistically-painted ostrich, Raphael paints an enigma. The ostrich had meant many things in the Middle Ages and Antiquity, but not justice. Instead, Raphael’s invention is based upon a Renaissance understanding of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. In ancient Egypt, the soul’s passage to the underworld was determined by weighing the heart against an ostrich feather [Ma'at's Feather of Truth], and so the hieroglyph for justice is an ostrich tail feather.* Raphael brought this arcane hieroglyph to life and playfully hid the tail, forcing the viewer to search for the meaning. Justice is labeled, but what is the bizarre exotic bird doing in the halls of power of the Vatican?" [from The Ostrich: An Unexpected Allegory]
There is lots more about this trans-cultural iconography in the book Raphael's Ostrich by Una Roman D’Elia (2016), the first chapter of which is available to read online here. (Despite the name, the book doesn't only focus on this particular ostrich, but offers a broad survey of ostrich iconography.)
*Here is how that hieroglyph is currently interpeted (Gardiner number H6) - it's not a direct symbol for Justice, but as a symbol for Maat, who in turn was the goddess of truth, cosmic balance, and yes, justice.
