Vesperbild (Pietà), unknown maker from the Netherlands

Artwork Overview

Vesperbild (Pietà)
Vesperbild (Pietà)
Vesperbild (Pietà)
late 1400s–early 1500s
Vesperbild (Pietà) , late 1400s–early 1500s
Where object was made: Southern Netherlands (present-day Belgium)
Material/technique: carving; oak wood
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 93.3 x 53.3 x 35.5 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 36 3/4 x 21 0.9843 x 14 0.9764 in
Weight (Weight): 86 lbs
Credit line: Gift of Allan Gerdau
Accession number: 1958.0022
Not on display
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Images

Label texts

Corpus - Project Redefine: Phase 2
Depictions of a sorrowful Virgin Mary holding her crucified son Jesus emerge in Germany in the 1300s. These Vesperbilds are better known to many viewers by their Italian name, Pietà, meaning pity. Religious devotion in the later medieval period can be characterized by an increased attention toward affective piety, or the cultivation of an emotional response in the believer. This sculpture emphasizes the humanity, suffering, and sorrow of Jesus and his mother. The presentation of Mary carrying her crucified son reminds the viewer of images in which Mary carries the infant Jesus, just as those subjects also reinforce associations with the crucifixion.
Exhibition Label: "Corpus," Apr-2012, Kris Ercums Depictions of a sorrowful Virgin Mary holding her crucified son Jesus emerge in Germany in the 1300s. These Vesperbilds are better known to many viewers by their Italian name, Pietà, meaning pity. Religious devotion in the later medieval period can be characterized by an increased attention toward affective piety, or the cultivation of an emotional response in the believer. This sculpture emphasizes the humanity, suffering, and sorrow of Jesus and his mother. The presentation of Mary carrying her crucified son reminds the viewer of images in which Mary carries the infant Jesus, just as those subjects also reinforce associations with the crucifixion.

Exhibitions

Brosseau Center for Learning: Vesperbild
2018
Inventing Childhood
Cassandra Mesick Braun, curator
2016–2017
Corpus - Project Redefine: Phase 2
Kris Ercums, curator
2012–2015
Medieval Art
1965

Citations

Hyland, Douglas, and Marilyn Stokstad, eds. Catalogue of the Sculpture Collection: Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art. Lawrence, Kansas: Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, 1981.

Broun, Elizabeth. Handbook of the Collection: Helen Foresman Spencer Museum of Art. Lawrence, Kansas: Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, 1978.

The Medieval Collections of the Museum of Art. Lawrence, Kansas: The University of Kansas Museum of Art, 1963.

Ziegler, Joanna E.. Sculpture of Compassion: The Pietà and the Beguines in the Southern Low Countries, c.1300-c.1600. Brussels, Belgium: Institut Historique Belge de Rome, 1992.

Stokstad, Marilyn, and Janey Levy St. George, Philip S. Humphrey, Marie Adams. Museums, Humanities, and Educated Eyes. Lawrence, Kansas: Spencer Museum of Art, The University of Kansas, 1982.