Roettgen Pieta

In or around the year 1325, an unknown German artist sculpted a dramatic scene central to the story of Christ: the moment at which Mary laments the death of her only son. This poignant moment is known as "the pity," or pieta. The pieta scene was popularized toward the end of the thirteenth century, making the Roettgen pieta one of the earliest and most historically significant representations this particular moment of passion. The scene is one that would become pervasive in Christian art and iconography, and studies of pieta sculptures can serve as proxy studies of the evolution of Western art, and Christian-themed Western art in particular. At the time the Roettgen pieta was created, pieces like these were known in German as Andachtsbild, or images used for contemplation[footnoteRef:1]. These images were especially common in Germany during the late medieval and Romanesque periods.[footnoteRef:2] Moreover, "as affective meditations increased...
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