Pietà with Angels in front of the Cross
Original title: Pietà with Angels in front of the Cross
kurzbeschreibung
Mary holds the body of Christ on her lap, with two angels standing to either side before the cross. Giulio Bonasone made this Pietà in 1546 as an etching, in black and white, using delicate graphic means that bring out the sorrow and devotion of the scene.
Description
Mary sits at the center, the dead Jesus on her lap, her arms spread wide as if crying out to heaven. Two angels flank her: the one on the left raises his arms upward, the one on the right keeps his lowered. Below, a crown of thorns lies under the cross, and above it clouds and the upper part of the cross can be seen. The layout is symmetrical; fine lines and hatching give the figures and the background form and depth.
Context
Bonasone, a sixteenth-century Italian engraver, worked in Bologna and Rome. In the Renaissance the Pietà was one of the common devotional subjects, serving private piety and the expression of faith. The sheet of 1546 was made at a time when printmaking flourished in Italy and artists such as Bonasone worked for collectors and religious patrons.
Impact
The symmetrical arrangement and Mary's expressive gesture evoke a quiet, moving mood. The fine linework makes the print feel intimate and almost meditative; the viewer is drawn into the sorrow of the scene.
Technique
For this etching the drawing was scratched into a metal plate and bitten with acid. The fine lines and hatching create greys and textures typical of Renaissance printmaking. At about 36 x 20.6 cm, the format matches that of a standard devotional print.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)