Artwork Page for Pietà

Details / Information for Pietà

Pietà

1929

Wiktorya J. Gorynska

(Polish, 1902–1945)
Culture
Poland, 20th century
Medium
wood engraving
Credit Line
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. McBride 1935.125
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

Twentieth-century artists, particularly those seeking to express religious feeling, often turned to Renaissance works of art as models. Although in reverse, the composition of this 20th-century pietà bears strong resemblance to Michelangelo’s 1498 sculpture. Both compositions are deeply mournful, capturing the sorrow of the mother's loss of her child, even while Wiktorya Gorynska’s print displays aspects of modern art such as flattened space and simplified, abstract forms. Gorynska added unique elements, such as the striped shroud and the kneeling figure of Saint John the Evangelist at left.
A vertically oriented wood engraving in dense black-inked lines depicts figures with light skin tones. Mary, wearing a white hooded cloak, bows her head with downcast eyes over Christ. He lies across her lap with closed eyes, wrapped in striped cloth. To the left, a kneeling person holds Mary's cloak to their face. A dark, hatched background surrounds them, with thistles on the right. A date and signature mark the bottom corners.

Pietà

1929

Wiktorya J. Gorynska

(Polish, 1902–1945)
Poland, 20th century

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