Allegory of good and bad government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Allegory of good and bad government - Essay Example While depicting scenes from everyday life, Lorenzetti skillfully uses allegory to depict government and the effect it has on life of its people. Lorenzetti illustrates Justice, in  Allegory of Good Government, sitting under the presence of wisdom. She is represented by a woman who holds scales of balance to give out rewards or mete out punishments. The figure of Justice bares resemblance of Mary, a patron saint of Siena, also dresses in Siena’s black and white colors to also represent the Common Good and God. The Common Good figure is surrounded with different virtues, by which Lorenzetti clearly highlights the necessity for all society to believe and act for justice and impartiality to rule a city well. The three figures in  Good Government  symbolize the key virtues of faith, hope, and charity. They soar over the head of the sovereign of good government, a man dressed like a king and sitting on a throne. This royal figure is the way Lorenzetti physically creates a hear t of good government—a heart of common good. In this wisdom, he makes an unspoken equivocation between an authoritative yet kind central sovereign and the accomplishment of the common good.