Pietá
Medium
Lithograph in sanguine on buff laid paper, laid down on cream laid paper
Dimensions
Image/sheet: 47.1 × 31.3 cm (18 9/16 × 12 3/8 in.); Secondary support: 51.2 × 37.3 cm (20 3/16 × 14 11/16 in.)
Classification
lithograph
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
81230
Art Historical Context
This lithograph captures the timeless Pietà theme, in which the Virgin cradles the body of the crucified Christ. The subject has long expressed profound themes of compassion, sacrifice, and maternal sorrow within Christian art. Louis Jean François Lagrenée, a leading French painter of the eighteenth century, created compositions that were frequently reproduced to reach wider audiences. Executed in sanguine on laid paper, the print skillfully imitates the warm, velvety tones of red-chalk drawings. Lithography, a relatively new medium at the time, allowed artists and publishers to disseminate s...