Pietà (1929): Art, History and Details

Pietà (1929) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Wiktorya J. Gorynska (Polish, 1902–1945).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Twentieth-century artists, particularly those seeking to express religious feeling, often turned to Renaissance works of art as models. Although in reverse, the composition of this 20th-century pietà bears strong resemblance to Michelangelo’s 1498 sculpture. Both compositions are deeply mournful, capturing the sorrow of the mother's loss of her child, even while Wiktorya Gorynska’s print displays aspects of modern art such as flattened space and simplified, abstract forms. Gorynska added unique elements, such as the striped shroud and the kneeling figure of Saint John the Evangelist at left.

Object facts

• Title: Pietà
• Date: 1929
• Creator attribution: Wiktorya J. Gorynska (Polish, 1902–1945)
• Culture: Poland, 20th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: wood engraving
• Collection: PR - Wood engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1935.125

Collection credit

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Malcolm L. McBride

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.