Pietà
The Pietà (Italian pronunciation:
Several of such images have merited a Pontifical decree of
.Context and development
Pietà is one of the three common artistic representations of a sorrowful Virgin Mary, the other two being
The Pietà developed in Germany (where it is called the "Vesperbild") about 1300, reached Italy about 1400, and was especially popular in Central European
Although the Pietà most often shows the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, there are other compositions, including those where God the Father participates in holding Jesus (see gallery below). In Spain the Virgin often holds up one or both hands, sometimes with Christ's body slumped to the floor.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
A
In a lesser known Michelangelo Pietà, The Deposition (c. 1547–1555), it is not the Virgin Mary who is holding Jesus' body, but rather Nicodemus (or possibly Joseph of Arimathea), Mary Magdalene, and the Virgin Mary. There is some indication that the man in the hood is based on a self-portrait of the artist.[8] The sculpture is housed in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo in Florence and is also known as the Florentine Pietà.
A generation later, the Spanish painter Luis de Morales painted a number of highly emotional Pietàs,[9] with examples in the Louvre and Museo del Prado.
Comic book art
The iconography of Piéta, with a figure holding a body in their arms, has been regularly used in comic book art, especially on covers.[10][11] One of the most famous examples is the cover for Crisis on Infinite Earths #7, which features the death of Supergirl.[12][citation needed]
Gallery
Statues, statuettes and paintings
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Pietà in frescoes found in theChurch of St. Panteleimon, Gorno Nerezi, 1164
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TheEnguerrand Charonton, 15th century
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15th-century German wood Pietà from Cologne
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Pieta Tondo by Jean Malouel, between 1400 and 1410 (Louvre)
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Jean Malouel, Pieta Tondo, detail
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Austrian Pietà, c. 1420
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Kraków, c. 1450
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German or Netherlandish 15th Century, Pietà, c. 1450–1500, National Gallery of Art
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Pietro Perugino, Uffizi, 1490
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Swabian painted wood Pietà of c. 1500
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Giovanni Bellini, c. 1505
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Dieffler Pietà, Wooden sculpture, presumably 15th or 18th century, former chapel of St Wendelin in Diefflen, Saarland Museum, Old Collection
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Musée de Besançon
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National Museum of Capodimonte
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National Sculpture Museum,
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18th-century Bavarian example with Rococo setting
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The Palestrina Pietà originally attributed to Michelangelo but probably by another sculptor
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Pieta, 1876, William-Adolphe Bouguereau
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A Pietà in marble by Anton Josef Reiss, 1897
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Vierge de Pitié, Déploration at Collégiale Saint-Salvi d'Albi, Albi, around 1900
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Bogdan Cierpisz, Pieta, c. 1980
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Every year on Good Friday, Port Kollam Church's renowned Pieta is on exhibit.
See also
References
- ^ "Pietà". National Galleries of Scotland.
- ISBN 1-4179-0870-Xpage 35
- ISBN 1-4286-3499-1page 37
- Oratorio della Nunziatella
- ISBN 0-85331-324-5
- ISBN 0-8153-1823-5page 233
- ^ "Pieta by Michelangelo". www.michelangelo.net.
- ^ "The Deposition by Michelangelo". www.michelangelo.net.
- ^ "Luis de Morales – Artworks". www.the-athenaeum.org.
- ^ "I Can't Cover What I Am - The Best Pieta Covers!". CBR. 2008-06-23. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ "Top Five Actual Pieta Covers". CBR. 2009-08-13. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- ^ Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. DC Comics. 1985.
Further reading
- Forsyth, William F. (1995). The Pietà in French late Gothic sculpture: regional variations. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 0-87099-681-9.