Vesperbild (Pietà)

About the Artwork

The word vesperbild is the German word for pietà, the image of the Virgin Mary cradling her dead son on her lap. The theme has no literary source; it originated in Germany during the early 1300s and was more widespread in central Europe than in Italy. These devotional sculptures were used within the interior of a church, in small side chapels dedicated to the Virgin. As in this example, they often convey her grief in a sensitive way. For those who prayed before them, vesperbilds were poignant reminders of the Passion of Christ and the suffering of the Virgin.

Exhibition history

Year in Review: 1971. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 28, 1971-February 6, 1972).

Quick Overview

Artist: Master of Grosslobming (Austrian)
Date: c. 1420
Medium: painted cast stone
Dimensions: Overall: 94 x 92.7 x 39.4 cm (37 x 36 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.)
Type: Sculpture
Classification: Sculpture
Department: Medieval Art
Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession no.: 1971.67

Provenance

originally from Kleinreifling on Enns River, Steiermark, Upper Austria; Mrs. Ida Rossacher, Steyn on Enns River (1930); Professor Alois Zwerger, Salzburg (until 1953); (Dr. Wolfgang Hofstatter, Vienna); (Galerie Fischer, Luzerne); John Bass, New York; Hunter College, New York; (Blumka Gallery, New York, 1971).

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.