Pietà 1667

Giovanni Battista Gaulli painted this Pietà, now in Rome’s National Gallery of Ancient Art, during the Baroque period. Observe Mary holding the lifeless body of Christ, flanked by weeping putti. Here we find the potent motif of the Mater Dolorosa, a symbol of profound grief and empathy. Consider the echoes of this pose in earlier depictions of mourning figures, like those found in ancient Roman sarcophagi. The Pietà embodies the universal experience of sorrow, resonating through diverse cultures and eras. The emotional weight carried by Mary's gesture — her hand gently clasping a cloth to her face— speaks to a collective subconscious understanding of grief. The thorns at the bottom right allude to Christ's suffering, a poignant symbol of sacrifice and redemption. These symbols reappear across centuries, evolving yet retaining their emotional core, demonstrating the enduring power of visual language in conveying fundamental human experiences.