Justice stands blindfolded on a pedestal in this iconoclastic Protestant allegory. She grasps a sword in her right hand and scales in her left, which symbolize her authority and her impartiality. On the left side of the image, Christ (designated by a nimbus) and his followers, all of whom are barefoot, talk among themselves and gesture at the Bible ("Verbum Dei" ["Word of God"]) that weighs down their side of the scale. The pope, a cardinal, a bishop, friars, clerics, and others frantically load the opposite side with a crucifix, Mass wafers, Decretal books ("Decretalis"), chalices, rosary beads, and other objects associated with Roman Catholic doctrine and devotional practices. A devil clings to the bottom of the Catholic side, but all of this fails to overturn the weight of scripture. A town is visible in the distance. The image articulates the bibliocentrism of many Protestant reformers and demonstrates those elements of the Roman Catholic faith that many Protestants rejected. See also "English Reformation under King Edward VI" and the title page woodcut in this collection. The image appears in the third (1576) and fourth (1583) editions, but first appears in The whole works of W[illiam] Tyndale, John Frith, and Doct[or] Barnes (London: John Day, 1573). Luborsky and Ingram 11224/2, 24436/3. JPEG file (3.9 MB).
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