Pietà

This plaque was probably made for private devotion. The Virgin is seated beneath the tau-shaped cross, the ends of which are cut aslant. Above is the titulus inscribed INRI, She wears a dark purple robe, a white wimple and a long blue mantle which is drawn over her head. Across her lap lies the body of Christ, still wearing the crown of thorns, and draped with a lioncloth. The head of Christ is reverently supported in a green kerchief by a holy woman at the left, dressed in a mulberry-colored robe. At the right, stands Mary Magdalene who wipes her eyes with a cloth and carries a blue pot of ointment. She is dressed in a robe of the same color as that of the other holy women, nearly hidden by a mantle of gold-brown. The three haloes also are painted in the mulberry color. Beyond is a green landscape, with sketchy indications of grass and trees drawn in dark lines under the green enamel. The deep blue sky is dotted with stars.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.