Not currently on view
In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of August 2026
FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG
Twentieth-century artists, particularly those seeking to express religious feeling, often turned to Renaissance works of art as models. Although in reverse, the composition of this 20th-century pietà bears strong resemblance to Michelangelo’s 1498 sculpture. Both compositions are deeply mournful, capturing the sorrow of the mother's loss of her child, even while Wiktorya Gorynska’s print displays aspects of modern art such as flattened space and simplified, abstract forms. Gorynska added unique elements, such as the striped shroud and the kneeling figure of Saint John the Evangelist at left.
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Aristide Maillol (French, 1861–1944) — Hero and Leander
Alphonse Legros (French, 1837–1911) — Triomphe de la Mort:
Hermann Paul (French, 1864–1940) — Vous voulez accompagner à
George Bellows (American, 1882–1925) — Mother and Children
Käthe Kollwitz (German, 1867–1945) — Proletariat: No. 1 Ou
Ernst Barlach (German, 1870–1938) — The Transformations of G
Max Klinger (German, 1857–1920) — Vom Tode I, (Opus II, 1889
Paula Modersohn-Becker (German, 1876–1907) — Seated Old Woma
William Blake (British, 1757–1827) — The Circle of the Trait
Domenico Beccafumi — Saint Philip
Alphonse Legros (French, 1837–1911) — La mort dans le piorie
Max Klinger|Wilhelm Felsing — Death (from the series A Love)