Pietà by Bouguereau: A Father's Grief Hidden in a Sacred Scene (1876)
The Virgin sits wrapped in a black cloak, the dead body of her son across her lap. Her face is pale and still; she looks straight out of the picture, at us. Around her, nine angels bow their heads and cover their faces, their wings overlapping like a wall of feathers. At her feet lie the crown of thorns and a bloodstained cloth. William-Adolphe Bouguereau painted this Pietà in 1876, and on a stone urn at the right he wrote a Latin line that turns it into something more than a religious scene. The picture below is our vintage poster version of the painting; the original is shown further down. Vintage art poster by Sapiens Verbum after William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Pietà , 1876 (oil on canvas, private collection). Available from the Sapiens Verbum print shop. 🖼️ Get the vintage poster → Quick facts Artist: William-Adolphe Bouguereau (La Rochelle, 1825–1905) Title: Pietà Date: 1876 Medium: Oil on canvas, about 230 × 148 ...