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Pietà

Pietà (sculpture of Virgin with dead Christ)

noun pje-TAH Rare

Origin: from Italian 'pietà' (pity, compassion)

Usage Note

Pietà is an iconographic type in Christian art showing the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Christ on her lap. Michelangelo's Pietà in St Peter's Basilica is the most celebrated example; the type is found in sculpture, painting and relief from the Middle Ages onward.

Examples

"Die Pietà in der Seitenkapelle ist ein spätgotisches Schnitzwerk aus Lindenholz."

Natural Translation

The Pietà in the side chapel is a late-Gothic carved work in linden wood.

Literal Translation

The Pietà in the side-chapel is a late-Gothic carved-work from linden-wood.

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