The Temple of Justice

From an elevated perspective, the grand staircase of the Italian Court of Cassation descends in perfect symmetry. Framed by neoclassical columns and lit by reverent lamplight, this space does not merely lead—it ascends, conceptually, toward the divine. The title, The Temple of Justice, is not metaphorical hyperbole, but a statement of function and form.

This is not a courthouse. It is a sanctuary.

Justice, as the image suggests, is not a secular procedure. It is a liturgy. It unfolds with rituals, vestments, invocation of higher powers, and the solemnity of faith. The robes, the benches, the altars of the law—these mimic the language of churches. And the Court of Cassation, the highest authority in the Italian judiciary, assumes its place as the High Temple where doctrines are interpreted, truth is mediated, and error is exorcised.

The photograph exposes the profound theatricality embedded in judicial architecture. There is no intimacy, no accessibility. The space is vast, cold, and unchallengeable. Justice here is not a dialogue—it is a revelation.

In a time where laïcité is invoked to strip institutions of myth and mystery, this image reminds us that the administration of justice remains sacralised, ritualistic, and mythopoetic. We do not merely seek fairness. We seek the transcendent—and this is where we come to find it.