Etude pour Les travaux du Palais de Justice

Martin exhibited a mural panel at the Salon of 1914 which he created for the Office for the Conciliation of Work-Related Accidents (Salle de conciliation des accidents de travail) in the Palais de justice in Paris. The commission was part of an ongoing project dating from the partial burning of the Palais de justice during the Paris commune of 1871. Martin was one of the last artists asked to provide a mural for the courthouse and the theme he was given was "Work." This was an apt assignment for he had already completed a triptych of the same theme in 1904 for Caisse d'Epargne, a bank in Marseille. The present work is a preliminary study for the larger mural.