Banksy, Paulson and the History of Blindfolded Statues

13 May, 2026

I recently came across photos of Sarah Paulson’s 2026 Met Gala outfit featuring a $1 bill covering her eyes and thought, “Oh, that tired trope.”

Paulson’s outfit reminded me that I rolled my eyes when Banksy’s statue of a person with their eyes covered by the flag they are carrying hit the news.

The symbolism is so overused and obvious that I feel a bit bludgeoned by it. Covering the eyes is meant to imply the person can’t see reality because of nationalism, money, or whatever.

This made me wonder, though, what is the history of statues with their eyes covered, and why is Lady Justice’s blindfold meant to represent impartiality, but other representations are satire? And, how did this metaphor of “seeing is believing” come to be in language and visual culture?

Lady Justice

The figure Western Culture knows as “Lady Justice” is a person wearing a blindfold, holding balance scales, and a sword.

The scales date back to the Ancient Egyptian god Anubis, who is known to weigh the heart against a feather in judgment during the afterlife journey.¹

The sword is meant to symbolize the implementation and authority of justice (eye roll).

The Blindfold: Impartiality or Satire

The common story is that the blindfold is meant to represent impartiality, but it hasn’t always been that way.

The first visual representation of Lady Justice with a blindfold was in a satirical poetry collection from 1494, and was meant to mock authorities who claim to value justice. In this text, a “fool is applying the blindfold so that lawyers can play fast and loose with the truth.”² The satire here is not unlike representations of Cupid, who plays fast and loose with the heart.

By 1543, though, the blindfold had taken the meaning of impartiality with a statue erected in Bern.³ Over the centuries, Justice’s blindfold continued to represent impartiality, but some statues didn’t include the blindfold.

Justice with Eyes Open

I found two modern representations of Justice with eyes open.

Virginia City, Nevada, USA, has a statue of Lady Justice with her eyes open that was erected in the late 19th century. According to Silver State Backroads, there were a number of representations of Justice with their eyes open, supposedly representing the need “to pursue crime vigorously.”⁴

In India, in 2024, the Supreme Court of India revealed a representation of Justice with eyes open and the Indian Constitution in her hand instead of a sword. Justice’s open eyes are meant to symbolize seeing everyone equally.⁵ I appreciate the constitution in place of the sword because it reflects who actually holds the power. That is, those who write the constitution.

In Western culture, Justice’s blindfold represents impartiality, while removing it means the relentless pursuit of crime (at least in the US).

In contrast, India’s Justice statue is meant to see everyone equally.

More often than not, though, covering the eyes is a critique of what society misses or willfully ignores.

Modern Communication Statue

“Modern Communication” is a 1995 statue of a person standing on their briefcase, with their tie blowing in the wind covering their eyes, a dress shoe in their mouth, and their fingers plugging their ears.

Modern Communication has a history of controversy as it is a blatant critique of power structures.⁶ The sculpture has had its home in front of the police station and now lives between the Municipal Courthouse and the Police Communication Centre, particularly poignant contrast to Lady Justice's supposedly “impartial” blindfold.⁷

Blindfolding Statues as Religious Practice

I found a few references to the act of blindfolding and revealing the eyes of statues as part of a religious practice.

With Hindu Murti, my understanding is that the statue is a representation of the god, and it is blindfolded to keep evil spirits out. When the statue is completed, the blindfold is removed, and a mirror is placed in front of the statue’s face so that the first thing the god sees is their own face.⁸

Buddhism has a similar practice in Buddhābhiṣeka, where new statues are blindfolded, and the eyes are revealed in a ceremony.⁹

These practices contrast with Western practices, where the eyes are symbols of truth and discernment, whereas in these practices, my understanding is that the eyes are an entry point to a vessel.

Perhaps research for another day would be to better understand how Hindu and Buddhist practices informed India’s Lady Justice, who sees everyone equally.

Blindfolding Statues as Art

And finally, I want to look at adding blindfolds to statues to make a statement.

In 2024, Scientist Rebellion Turtle Island blindfolded a number of statues and hung a sign near them that said “Don’t look away” with various sub-slogans like “Plastic Kills” or “End Fossil Fuels Now.” According to their website, “This creates powerful images and a clear message: those in power are ignoring the crisis.” ¹⁰

Similarly, an anonymous artist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, covered hundreds of statues' eyes in order to “protect the national figures from Brazil’s history from seeing the shameful state of the nation.” ¹¹ My mind immediately jumps to the irony that it’s quite possible these national figures committed shameful acts to establish the nation.

The Inclusion Question

I can’t talk about the symbolism of the eyes without wondering about sightedness. Many cultures find deep symbolism in the eyes, but phrases like “love is blind” or “justice is blind” create a dominant narrative that “seeing” is an experience of the truth.

This would be an interesting research project for another day; what are representations of justice and truth that incorporate other sensory experiences? Is Justice’s blindfold ever interpreted to mean the other senses are more truthful than the eyes?

Controlling What Enters the Eyes

Through this research, I learned that Lady Justice is one of the rare instances where covering the eyes is meant to be something positive—impartiality—and almost all other instances it is meant as satire or critique. Artists can’t seem to agree whether Justice should have eyes wide open or rely on all the other senses.

In Hindu and Buddhist practices, the careful act of revealing the eyes takes a different approach to the symbolism of the eyes, one that perhaps Banksy, Sarah Paulson, and others could learn from. Seeing is not always believing. Sometimes we need to take care with what we let in.

#blog #culture