Fountain of Justice, Biel

Originating from 1571, the Fountain of Justice shows the figure of Justice with the Pope, the emperor and the sultan at its feet. It is one of the famous 11 Solithurn fountains.

The Fountain of Justice is one of the five that Laurent Perroud built in the mid-16th century for the city of Solothurn – the other four are those of Samson and those of Saints Ours, Maurice and George. Her image is classic: a blindfolded woman holding a sword in her right hand and a scale in her left. Beneath it, also on the capital, are four figures representing four rulers who must –or should– be subject to it: a magistrate, the pope, the emperor and a sultan, or the Grand Turk. All of this in a typology of fountains typical of Renaissance Switzerland, of which its author, Laurent Perraud, who was also a sculptor of fountains –and other works– in Neuchâtel, Delémont or Lausanne, is a good representative.