Pietà

Art Historical Context

This delicate *Pietà*, created by an anonymous German artist around 1480, captures the timeless Christian motif of the Virgin Mary cradling the lifeless body of Christ after his crucifixion. Rendered as a paste print—a rare early printing technique using a paste of whiting and starch pressed through stencils onto paper—it exemplifies the innovative printmaking emerging in late 15th-century Northern Europe. Measuring just 4.7 × 4.1 cm, its miniature scale suggests it was designed for personal devotion, perhaps carried in a prayer book or worn as a talisman by pilgrims. In the context of the La...

About the Artist

German 15th Century

**German 15th Century** The designation "German 15th Century" encompasses a collective of anonymous artists active in the late medieval and early Renaissance periods in Germany, primarily known through their contributions to early printmaking and panel painting. These creators emerged during a transformative era when woodcuts and engravings began democratizing religious imagery, bridging the Goth...