Mirow on Legal Iconography

M. C. Mirow, Florida International University College of Law, has posted Legal Iconography and Painting Constitutional Law, which is forthcoming in Painting Constitutional Law: Xavier Cortada's Images of Constitutional Rights, edited by M.C. Mirow and Howard M. Wasserman (Brill):

Predominantly a European phenomenon, the study of legal iconography has expanded to the common law world and informed approaches to Anglo-American legal development. European painting, sculptures, and other artwork were used in forensic settings to channel behavior of judges, lawyers, and litigants. Such artwork often combined religious perspectives, such as depictions of the Last Judgement, but might also reflect more secular notions such as Justice. Cultural historians and theorists have supplemented these more traditional approaches by expanding the scope of the analysis of the relationship between image and law. This study illustrates the potential for legal iconography to offer deeper insights into law, legal institutions, justice, injustice, and legal change in modern society.

--Dan Ernst