Pietà with Sorrowing Angels
17th century
Medium
Boxwood; base: wood, ebony, tortoiseshell and ivory or bone
Dimensions
Overall (with base): 18 × 12 1/2 × 6 1/2 in. (45.7 × 31.8 × 16.5 cm)
Classification
Sculpture-Miniature
Culture
Flemish
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Loretta Hines Howard, 1964
Accession Number
64.164.242
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the hushed galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of, Mattheus van Beveren's *Pietà with Sorrowing Angels* (17th century) captivates with its exquisite miniature scale and profound emotional depth. This Flemish sculpture depicts the timeless Christian motif of the Pietà—Virgin Mary cradling the lifeless of Jesus, surrounded by mourning angels—evoking the raw sorrow of the Lamentation. Carved from dense boxwood, a wood favored by Baroque artists for its fine grain that allows intricate detailing, the piece measures just 18 × 12½ × 6½ inches including its ornate base of wood, ebony, tortoiseshe...