Evening star., 1936-06-28
Bv James L. Wriskt.
tCopyrisht. 1885. by the North America


tCopyrisht. 1885. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance Inc,
IITHE Place of Justice Is a
Hallowed Place" Carved in
stone over the main en-
Il trance to the new $4,000
900 Department of Justice Building on
Pennsylvania avenue are those words,
but inside this strikingly beautiful
structure, which successfully combines
Greek and Roman art with modern
istic architecture, one is presented
with startling contradictions Of the
motto.
Murals in vivid colors depict not
the beauties of even-handed justice
with gently balanced scales held IN
the hands of blindfolded goddess,
out some of the most sordid, depressing
experiences Of human existence. A
man is shown entering prison gates,
the bars casting shadows across his
shoulders. A thug in an amorous
embrace with a gun moll is shown
leaving the prison.
Over great staircase. which leads
to a marvellous corridor with vaulted
ceiling of silver leaf. one of breath
taxing beauty, there are splaShes of
gaudy colors. depicting woe-begone
men and women and a pinched-face
child bending over sewing machine.
Beneath them Is q series of dress
makers busts.
Adjoining them are rolling fields
with splashes of green, and large
figures Of cows being MIXED, and then
scene of a family at meal time,
into all of which the artist, George
Biddle Of Philadelphia, has worked
faces of himself and his family.
Graduated from Groton and Harvard,
and having studied at Julien's in
Paris, Mr.. Biddle has become social
conscious.
Even the defenders of Mr. Biddle's
five panels admit the scenes depicted
have a rather "tenuous relationship
to the administration of justice" that
they might seem more appropriate
in the Department of Labor Building,
and apparently Mr.. Biddle sensed the
inability of the average art critic to
comprehend the application, for he
has painted near the base of the
center panel these words:
The sweatshop and tenement of
today can be life ordered with justice
Of tomorrow"
VIOLENT controversies have arisen
over the art, which is going into
the Department Of Justice Building.
Some brand the ultra-modern murals
from the brushes of Henry Varnum
Poor and Mr.. Biddle as "artrocities,"
while others regard them as the
greatest paintings since Michelangelo
painted the ceiling of the Vatican.
The general impression seems to be
that the style of painting employed
is In too violent contrast to the style
Of architecture of the building. There
is clash instead Of blend.
The design of the Department of
Justice Building was not inspired by
an individual building Of antiquity, "
wrote C. c. zantinger, the architect,
to Attorney General Homer S. Cum
mings. "Our thought was 30 to design
this building that 1t would be In the
American tradition as exemplified in
the buildings of the early 18th century
in Washington itself.
"Our purpose in the design of the
exterior and the Court Of Honor was
to create a building that would be
suitable and ut home in washington.
In the interior our aim was simplicity
combined with elegance, both express
ing the dignity of the department
that the building houses. and done In
the sentiment of our own time.
I'm Greek and Roman mythology
the administration of justice was a
conception implicit in the godhead.
namely, Zeus or Jupiter. There was
no temple of justice. Such building
would imply the worship of an alb
stract virtue rather than of a person
or deity pensonifying that abstraction,
and again this k not, ! believe, In
accordance with the cult Of either
Of the classical peoples.
The female Titan. Thenis (Justice),
who Is representa- holding aloft q
patr Of scales, In Ehieh she weighs the