Justice enthroned between the Archangels Michael and Gabriel

This panel was not made for a church. It hung in the offices of the Magistrato del Proprio, a Venetian court inside the Doge's Palace that settled disputes over property, dowries and inheritance. So the men deciding those cases worked beneath an image of Justice herself, enthroned with a sword and scales. She rests on lions, a nod to the throne of Solomon, the old seat of wisdom, and Venice liked to see its own courts in that light. On either side stand two archangels holding inscribed scrolls. Michael, in armour with a dragon under his feet, weighs and purges souls. Gabriel holds a lily and announces peace among men. Jacobello signed the work in 1421, beside Justice's sword. It runs nearly five metres wide, one of the largest things he ever painted.