The Pieta

I took this picture of Michelangelo's georgeous sculpture of the Madonna and the crucified Christ that resides at The Vatican when I was there in the summer of 2007. I love this sculpture because it depicts a mother's mortal sorrow. Unlike other versions, Mary's eyes are upon her dead son, not turned up to God in piety. Mary is mourning a human loss rather than, as is usual with this subject matter in art, celebrating the return of the son of God to his father's right hand. This is why she is the patron saint of all mothers.
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