Conclusion

      The Scourging of the Four Crowned Martyrs has many elements that can tell us about justice in the Middle Ages.  The composition and use of monstrosity conveys a great deal about these ideas.  The composition reinforces ideas of good and evil and this dichotomy emphasizes that the Martyrs and Christ are the righteous figures.  Images of monsters and devils were used to stimulate thought and illustrate right and wrong.[1]  The devils are punishing Lampadius for wrongly punishing the Martyrs.  The idea of punishment being a hold on either the body or soul is clearly illustrated with the Martyrs because while they are constrained physically, they are still portrayed as righteous and holy through their positions and their haloes.  To Medieval people, we can conclude that while justice could be obtained through the law and government, the Church and God were the ultimate judges on justice. 

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1. Thomas E.A. Dale, "The Monstrous," A Companion to Medieval Art: Romanesque and Gothic in Northern Europe, ed. Conrad Rudolph (Blackwell Publishing, 2006), 266.