Pietà
Medium
Terracotta
Dimensions
Overall: 11 7/16 x 7 1/16 x 5 15/16 in. (29.1 x 17.9 x 15.1 cm)
Classification
Sculpture
Culture
French, Paris
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Assunta Sommella Peluso, Ada Peluso, and Romano I. Peluso Gift, in memory of Ignazio Peluso, 2001
Accession Number
2001.199
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux'sPietà* (1864), a poignant terracotta sculpture, captures the timeless Christian theme of the Virgin Mary cradling the lifeless of Christ. Measuring just over 11 inches tall, this intimate work exemplifies the emotional depth Carpeaux infused into his neoclassical forms, blending idealized anatomy with raw, Romantic expressiveness. Created in Paris during the Second Empire, it reflects the era's fascination with religious subjects amid grand public monuments. As a leading sculptor of his time, Carpeaux renowned for dynamic figures like those on the Paris Opéra façade. T...
About the Artist
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux · 1827–1875
Carpeaux's exuberant work was a decisive break from Neoclassical art. He won the Prix de Rome in 1854 and received many portrait bust commissions from the court. His most famous sculpture group is 'La Danse' (1869) made for the Paris Opéra. So bold is its message of bacchanalian revelry that it was vandalized in protest. French artist.