Veistos, Pieta - 19th Century - 78 cm - Puu

Portuguese devotional sculptural group from the 19th century, executed in carved wood, sculpted, polychromed and partially gilded, representing the Pietà, or Our Lady of Piety, with the Virgin Mary seated and holding in her arms the body of Jesus Christ after the descent from the cross. The Virgin is depicted frontally, with a serene yet profoundly painful expression. The face, slightly uplifted, shows delicate features and a contemplative gaze, conveying a restrained and resigned sorrow. The head is covered by a light-toned veil, enveloped by a broad green mantle, highlighted by gilded fillets. Mary wears a long tunic in a bluish-gray shade, decorated at the bottom with stylized vegetal motifs painted in gold. The treatment of the garments, marked by wide folds and relatively simple modeling, reinforces the popular and devotional character of the work. On the Virgin’s bosom rests the unconscious body of Christ, arranged diagonally and almost horizontally. Mary supports his head with her right hand, while the left supports the arm and the upper torso. This position emphasizes the maternal relationship between the two figures and constitutes one of the most expressive elements of the composition. Christ’s head is inclined backward, eyes closed, with wavy hair and carefully modeled beard. The body shows the signs of the Passion, notably wounds painted on the chest, the arms and the legs. The right arm hangs down, while the legs descend laterally over the Virgin’s lap. Around the waist the loincloth remains, worked with folds and tied at the side. Behind the group rises a large wooden cross, deliberately rustic in execution, with an irregular surface painted in brown and dark tones, evoking natural wood. Its elevated scale vertically extends the composition and immediately identifies the scene depicted as post-Crucifixion. The sculpture rests on a rocky-configuration base, formed by irregular wooden elements, painted in brown and black tones, symbolizing Calvary. The whole ensemble rests on a dark wooden oval base, framed and raised by small turned feet. The group would also be accompanied by a silver halo, an element intended to emphasize the sacred dignity of the Virgin or Christ, although this attribute is not clearly visible in the presented photograph. The Pietà iconography represents the moment when the Virgin receives the body of Christ in her arms after the descent from the cross. Widely diffused in Christian art since the late Middle Ages, this representation is a meditation on suffering, motherhood, sacrifice and redemption. In Portugal, it was particularly common in churches, chapels, confraternities and private oratories. The expressive treatment of the figures, the frontal composition, the popular-character polychromy and the gilded decoration of the garments allow situating the work within the tradition of Portuguese 19th-century religious imagery, probably intended for an secondary altar, private chapel, brotherhood or domestic devotion space. It shows signs of antiquity and use compatible with the period. Portugal, 19th century. Carved, sculpted, polychromed and gilded wood; cross and base in wood; silver halo. Dimensions of the sculptural group: 38 × 27 cm. Total dimensions with the cross: 78 × 27 cm.