Vesperbild (Pieta)
Honestly the first thing I thought of when I saw this piece was "This is really ugly" as most of my classmates agreed. The time period that this piece was created was a period where Jesus and Mary were shown in a much less secular nature (mostly on thrones with Mary holding baby Jesus). The people of this time period I'm sure weren't use to seeing Jesus Christ's limp, bloody, lifeless body being held by his mother so this piece for lack of a better word was a shock. But, the more I looked at the details in this piece, did some research, and started to realize the thinking behind it I began to think that this piece is meant to be a shocking reminder of the death of Jesus Christ. "The word Pietà (pl. same; Italian for pity) is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus." So I can't help but think that this piece was created to make you feel something. Whether the emotion you feel is shock from first seeing Jesus and Mary depicted like this, disgust because you don't understand the piece, or the sadness and grief that you can see in Mary's face for the death of her son. I truly don't believe that this piece was created to be pretty, for decoration or to be a center piece to show wealth or status, I would call this an "emotional piece".
