Pieta Bronze Statue

The Pietà (Italian for pity) is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus, most often found in sculpture. As such, it is a particular form of the Lamentation of Christ, a scene from the Passion of Christ found in cycles of the Life of Christ. When Christ and the Virgin are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament, the subject is strictly called a Lamentation in English, although Pieta is often used for this as well, and is the normal term in Italian. The Pieta developed in Germany about 1300, reached Italy about 1400, and was especially popular in Central Europe. Many German and Polish 15th century examples in wood greatly emphasise Christ's wounds. The Deposition of Christ and the Lamentation or Pietà form the 13th of the Stations of the Cross, as well as one of Seven Sorrows of the Virgin.

The most famous Pieta is Michelangelo's Pieta in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. His interpretation is different from most earlier pieta statues, which were usually smaller and in wood. The Virgin is also unusually youthful, and in repose, rather than the older, sorrowing Mary of most pietas. Michelangelo's last work was another Pieta, this one featuring not the Virgin Mary holding Christ, but rather Joseph of Arimathea, probably carved as a self-portrait.

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