Guldan-Klamecka, Bożena, Ziomecka, Anna, Sztuka na Śląsku XII-XVI w. Katalog zbiorów, Wrocław 2003, seria Katalogi zbiorów Muzeum Narodowego we Wrocławiu, s. 233-234, kat. 22

provenance: 1948, transfer

not on display

National Museum in Wrocław Gallery of Art 12th–15th c.

inventory number: MNWr XI-155

copyrights to object: PUBLIC DOMAIN

permalink: https://muzeumcyfrowe.mnwr.pl/en/exhibit/p/mnwr_xi-155

Images of the Virgin Mary holding Christ’s dead body on her lap appeared and started to spread in the early fourteenth century. By picturing the pain and agony of Jesus and his Mother, the Pieta encouraged religious contemplation and devotion. In the featured sculpture, on display in the corridor of the National Museum’s permanent gallery of medieval Silesian art, Mary’s suffering is eloquently if subtly expressed on her face. Although her features are idealized, her furrowed brows, half-closed eyes and downturned lips reveal deep emotions. With her both hands, she tenderly embraces, holds and supports the inert body of crucified Christ. Cascading down from her lap, her mantle with a gold border accentuating its edge is arranged in folds creating a majestic pedestal for the body of her dead Son.

Before World War II, the Pieta was displayed in the Baroque altar in the Hochberg Chapel adjoining St Vincent’s Church (fmr. Church of St James) in Wrocław. During the war, it was evacuated to in hidden in Lwówek Śląski and from there was transferred to today’s National Museum in Wrocław in 1948. Today, its copy features in the recently reconstructed Hochberg Chapel.
[Agata Stasińska]

Pieta

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