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Vesperbild (Pietà)
Master of Grosslobming (Austrian)c. 1420
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
The word vesperbild is the German word for pietà, the image of the Virgin Mary cradling her dead son on her lap. The theme has no literary source; it originated in Germany during the early 1300s and was more widespread in central Europe than in Italy. These devotional sculptures were used within the interior of a church, in small side chapels dedicated to the Virgin. As in this example, they often convey her grief in a sensitive way. For those who prayed before them, vesperbilds were poignant reminders of the Passion of Christ and the suffering of the Virgin.
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Details
- Title: Vesperbild (Pietà)
- Creator: Master of Grosslobming (Austrian)
- Date Created: c. 1420
- Physical Dimensions: Overall: 94 x 92.7 x 39.4 cm (37 x 36 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.)
- Provenance: originally from Kleinreifling on Enns River, Steiermark, Upper Austria; Mrs. Ida Rossacher, Steyn on Enns River (1930); Professor Alois Zwerger, Salzburg (until 1953); (Dr. Wolfgang Hofstatter, Vienna); (Galerie Fischer, Luzerne); John Bass, New York; Hunter College, New York; (Blumka Gallery, New York, 1971).
- Type: Sculpture
- Rights: CC0
- External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1971.67
- Medium: painted cast stone
- Department: Medieval Art
- Culture: Austria, Steiermark, 15th century
- Credit Line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
- Collection: MED - Gothic
- Accession Number: 1971.67
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