Pietà (after Delacroix) by Van Gogh: The Painting That Began With a Spoiled Print (1889)
A woman in a blue cloak sits at the mouth of a cave with her arms flung open, one hand reaching towards us. Across her lap lies the body of her son, pale and heavy, his head fallen against her, his red hair and beard bright against the yellow light of a stormy evening. This is Vincent van Gogh’s Pietà , painted in September 1889 in the asylum at Saint-Rémy after a print of a painting by Eugène Delacroix. It began with an accident, and it became one of his rare religious subjects. Here we look at it through a new frame: a vintage Art Nouveau poster with a border of white lilies. Vintage Art Nouveau poster by Sapiens Verbum after Vincent van Gogh, Pietà (after Delacroix) , 1889 (oil on canvas, 73 × 60.5 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). Available from the Sapiens Verbum print shop. 🖼️ Get the Art Nouveau poster → Quick facts Artist: Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890), after Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863) Title:...