Pietà

Michelangelo Buonarroti

mid-16th century · Gilt bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The Pietà Michelangelo invented for Vittoria attracted an unusual, ongoing fame, to the point that it became a cult image widely copied and repurposed in different materials. Beyond the numerous copies in drawings, paintings, and engravings, the design was adapted for portable altarpieces, votive reliefs, and paxes—small tablets kissed by the participants in Mass—such as this one. The pax, its gilding quite worn, is crudely inscribed with the name of a religious society of Saint Peter.

Artist

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Date

mid-16th century

Medium

Gilt bronze

Culture

Italian, Rome

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Bequest of Henry Victor Burgy, 1901