De goede rechters 1894

James Ensor created this etching, "The Good Judges" sometime in the late 19th century. He lived in a Belgium that was struggling with social inequality and political corruption and Ensor's family was not exempt from hardships. Here, a panel of judges sit in a courtroom, their faces a grotesque caricature of power. Ensor seems to suggest that these figures are blind to justice, consumed by their own self-importance, and perhaps even complicit in the very injustices they are meant to judge. The imagery confronts us with the uncomfortable reality of how power can distort and corrupt. What does justice look like when it is mediated through the flawed lens of human nature? Ensor seems to suggest that these so-called 'good judges' are far from impartial arbiters of justice, but rather symbols of a broken system. The emotional intensity of the piece invites us to reflect on our own roles and responsibilities.