Pieta (completed by Palma il Giovane (Jacopo Negretti)) Titian (Tiziano Vecellio) (1488/90-1576)

Description of Titian Vechellio’s painting of the Pietà

The Pietà is the Mourning of Christ. This work is the artist’s most profound in feeling and thought. This work remained unfinished. It was completed by Titian Palma the Younger.

We see a niche, roughly made of stones. It is framed by two statues. Titian depicts people who are all seized by a single mournful impulse. In Mary’s lap rests the body of the dead Christ. Mary is frozen in utter despair, like a statue. The artist does not portray Christ as a martyr or a totally exhausted ascetic.

We see before us a hero who has fallen in a truly unequal battle. The old man looks sadly at Jesus. Magdalene raises her hand in a gesture. It is like a powerful mournful cry in the absolute silence of the world. Her red hair flutters. They become a kind of flash that contrasts with the dusky background of this painting. The statue of Moses, carved in stone, is truly impressive. The expression on his face is mournful and angry at the same time. This statue is intricately illuminated by the grayish-blue glimmer of an almost completely extinct day.

Titian was able to convey the utmost power of grief and the splendor of sorrow. It is no coincidence that this work was his last. The artist wrote a requiem, which he dedicated to those images of heroes that he loved so much. The Renaissance is receding into the past, and Titian regrets it.

All the colors of this canvas are gloomy. Shades of brown predominate. Titian skillfully uses tones and halftones. Despite a certain monochromaticism of the painting, it is impressive. The artist creates vivid poses of the characters, in which you can also read despair and immense sorrow. Titian paints every fold of clothing and the curves of the figures. The statues are tangible. We feel that they are three-dimensional and almost alive. Titian created a truly grandiose painting that summed up his entire oeuvre.