Pietà Roettgen
The Pietà Roettgen is a work of art created around 1360 in the Mainz area and named after its last owner, the Rhenish collector Carl Roettgen (1837–1909). It is now in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn .
The expressive sculpture (89 cm high, wood, colored) is a Vesper picture that probably originally stood at the feet of a cross - however, it is worked from below, that is, it probably stood on the base of a crucifix. The drastic expressivity is to be understood in the context of the late medieval devotional pictures : The newly emerging individual piety demands personal devotion and empathy (compassio) - either for absolute mourning or the beauty of the holy figures, especially Mary. The believer experiences the mental and physical pain in a mystical way.
description
On the lowest plinth there is a small intermediate plate, which is decorated with five stucco roses. On top of this is another plate on which a simple bench jumps up backwards. Mary sits hunched on this bench, the dead Christ positioned at right angles to her, holding on her knees. She holds his knees with one hand and supports the lifeless body on his back with the other. Her face is filled with pain and she looks at the dead son's chest. Christ is depicted much more drastically. His thin and emaciated body seems much too small and has lost all strength, his oversized head, still adorned with the crown of thorns, falls backwards at an unnatural angle. The features are still twisted in pain - his mouth slightly open and his eyes closed. The blood oozes in drops from the wounds on his hands, feet and chest. Overall, he sits conspicuously at right angles on Mary's lap.
interpretation
The five wounds of Christ , which are symbolized by the rosettes on the base, are considered to be a sign of divine love. The wound on the side is a symbol of the Sacred Heart of Jesus , from which water and wine, the sacraments of the Church, spring. The blood drops in grape form also refer to the blood of Christ: They point to Christ as the mystical vine.
Master of the Pietà Roettgen
The artist, not known by name, who carved the figure of Pietà, is sometimes referred to in art history with the emergency name Meister der Pietà Roettgen .
See also
literature
- Rolf Toman: Gothic. Architecture - sculpture - painting . Ullmann & Könemann 2004
- Robert Suckale : History of Art in Germany . Dumont 2005