This characteristic study by Lehmann belongs to a group of preparatory drawings for the representation of Retribution (La Vindicte publique poursuivant le Crime) as a punitive angel driving away the hooded figure of Crime. The latter figure was worked out on this sheet, with stolen goods and a murderer’s dagger in his hand.
The depiction was part of the decorations made for the Palais de la Justice in Paris from 1866 to 1867. Unfortunately, the entire work was destroyed as early as 1871, so that, along with the preparatory drawings, only a few engravings after the finished portions of fresco provide documentation of the project (Fig.1).