OLD MASTERS, COLONIAL ART, JEWELS & WATCHES
Exceptional sculpture in carved alabaster, with restoration in the thoracic part and in the right leg of the figure of Christ. At the end of the Middle Ages a theme was developed that would have a wide repercussion later on: the Pietà. In it the Virgin appears gathering on her legs the body of the dead Christ. Without direct reference to the canonical gospels, its origin should be traced in the female convents of the Rhine area around the 14th century. Small terracotta sculptures of strong expressiveness called Vesperbild (in allusion to the Vespers of Good Friday, the canonical hour when Christ was taken down from the cross and placed in his Mother’s arms) were created. From this origin the theme spread throughout the rest of Europe as it connected perfectly with the spirit of the Devotio Moderna that dominated the 15th century and was adopted by the confraternities of the Passion that flourished at the end of the Middle Ages, later becoming an image frequently used for funeral chapels. It united the idea of maternity with that of death, referring, in addition, to the protective character of Mary (and therefore, linked to the Virgin of Mercy) who acted as intercessor between men and the divinity. It is worth noting a
similar example preserved in the Museum of Decorative Arts in Frankfurt. 21 x 19 x 6 cm.
