Pietà
means pity, and in art Pietàs depict the dead Jesus lying on His mother’s lap after
being taken down from the cross. The image was first popularized by Michealangelo’s
1499 sculpture, which was created for the Vatican and still resides in Saint
Peter’s Basilica there.
That’s
the photo at the top of this page, which I took during a visit to the Vatican
in 2018. Unfortunately, it was behind bulletproof glass because it had been
vandalized in 1972. The line running through the photo is in the glass, and I
couldn’t get the Pietà from the right angle without the line.
There
is nothing in the Bible to support the fact that Mary held her dead Son,
although it isn’t impossible. Still, I like the image because it shows Jesus’ humanity
by depicting His human mother as well as His death.
Here
are a few other pieces of art that depict the Pietà, starting with a painting
by Giovanni Bellini around 1505.
The next two are sculptures from the 16th Century. The first is Spanish, but the actual artist is unknown. The second was created by Ippolito Scalza in 1579 and includes two additional characters. If you look beneath Mary’s raised arm, you can see Mary Magdaline caressing Jesus’ hand and foot, and the man is Nicodemus holding the hammer, rope, and ladder used to remove Jesus from the cross.
The final photo shows a later painting done by French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau in 1876. In it, angels mourn with Mary.
As we look toward Good Friday, let us not forget that it was Jesus’ humanity that enabled Him to die for our sins.
For
that, I will be forever grateful.
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