The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 19, 2025
Vesperbild (Pietà)
c. 1420
(Austrian)
Overall: 94 x 92.7 x 39.4 cm (37 x 36 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.)
Location: 111 German and Austrian Gothic
Description
The word vesperbild is the German word for pietà, the image of the Virgin Mary cradling her dead son on her lap. The theme has no literary source; it originated in Germany during the early 1300s and was more widespread in central Europe than in Italy. These devotional sculptures were used within the interior of a church, in small side chapels dedicated to the Virgin. As in this example, they often convey her grief in a sensitive way. For those who prayed before them, vesperbilds were poignant reminders of the Passion of Christ and the suffering of the Virgin.- originally from Kleinreifling on Enns River, Steiermark, Upper Austria; Mrs. Ida Rossacher, Steyn on Enns River (1930); Professor Alois Zwerger, Salzburg (until 1953); (Dr. Wolfgang Hofstatter, Vienna); (Galerie Fischer, Luzerne); John Bass, New York; Hunter College, New York; (Blumka Gallery, New York, 1971).
- The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 73 archive.org
- Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).
- {{cite web|title=Vesperbild (Pietà)|url=false|author=Master of Grosslobming|year=c. 1420|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1971.67