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New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division
For our final event this season, on April 28 we opened a courtroom of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court to the public. A jewel of the City Beautiful movement, the courthouse was designed by architect James Brown Lord and completed in 1900. Statues of lawgivers and symbols of justice from throughout history — Moses, Justinian, and Confucius among others — were placed on the roof of the building.
The statuary on the exterior of the building ignited a controversy in 1950 when the Department of Public Works decided to clean and restore the statues on the roof of the building. It was revealed that one of the statues represented Muhammad. Ambassadors from several countries with large Muslim populations asked the State Department to destroy the statue rather than clean and restore it. The Appellate Court justices agreed, and the statue was removed.
The courtroom at the NY State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, 1st Department / photo: dangottesman.com
The courtroom has several stained glass windows… / photo: dangottesman.com
…and a large stained glass dome created by Maitland Armstrong / photo: dangottesman.com
A close up of the dome reveals symbols / photo: dangottesman.com
The ceiling of the courtroom / photo: dangottesman.com
A sconce along the wall / photo: dangottesman.com
The bench, where the 5 justices preside / photo: dangottesman.com
Judith Resnick spoke on images of justice in courtrooms / photo: dangottesman.com
The lecture was part art history lesson, part sociological study / photo: dangottesman.com
It turns out that how we represent justice in imagery can ignite controversy / photo: dangottesman.com
