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# Falsehood and Justice
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/henry-chapman-falsehood-and-justice/
- Published: 2018-08-11T14:00:18.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:09:56.000Z
- Description: Truth is beaten to death.
- Author: Henry Chapman
- Tags: Art, Drawing, Weekend, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-18 14:37 (2018)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2018/08/spiral-trimmed.jpg)

Henry Chapman, “Spiral of Justice” (2018), graphite and inkjet ink on paper, 11 x 8.5 inches (courtesy of the artist)

The poem, ‘Spiral of Justice,’ or ‘*Gerechtigkeitsspirale*’ in its original German, was carved by Erhart Falckener onto a church pew in Hesse in 1510\. The words are punctuated by red diamonds and surrounded by thistle and acanthus. I found an image of the pew while researching examples of shaped poetry. Reading the English translation is like reading the news: ‘Justice suffers in great need/Truth is slain dead \[…\] Faleshood is of high birth.’

The poem:

Justice suffers in great need.  
Truth is beaten to death.  
Faith has lost the argument.  
Falsehood is of high birth.  
That angers God the Lord.  
O man, let go  
That you may not always be lost.  
Praise justice.

*(Adapted from English translations provided by* [*Wikipedia*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerechtigkeitsspirale?ref=hyperallergic.com)*)*