La Pieta
The Pietà (Italian pronunciation: [pjeˈta]; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Blessed Virgin Mary cradling the mortal body of Jesus Christ after his Descent from the Cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form of the Lamentation of Christ in which Jesus is mourned by the Virgin Mary alone. However, in practice works called a Pietà may include angels, the other figures usual in Lamentations, and even donor portraits.
An image consisting only of a dead Christ with angels is also called a Pietà, at least in German, where Engelpietà (literally "Angel Pietà") is the term for what is usually called Dead Christ supported by angels in English.
Several namesake images have merited a Pontifical decree of coronation, including the Pieta of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, in the Marienthal Basilica in France, the Franciscan church in Leuven, Belgium, at the Kamp-Bornhofen, Germany, and Our Lady of Charity in Cartagena, Spain.
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