Restored in 2000 with funding from The James R. Dougherty, Jr. Foundation, through Beatrice Rossi-Landi, Trustee.

Pietro Baratta’s poignant sculpture of the Pietà was originally located in the church of Santa Lucia, which was demolished to create space for Venice’s train station. Although Baratta was not from Venice, his style demonstrates many of the same characteristics seen in works by other sculptors active in Venice during the first few decades of the eighteenth century, particularly the Baroque and Rococo ideals of emotion and movement.

Christ’s emaciated body rests heavily on Mary’s knee, and her sorrowful gaze is fixated on His lifeless hand. The sculptor eloquently conveys the suffering experienced by both mother and son. His studied use of light and shadow, particularly as it falls upon the expressive folds of the draperies, dramatically reinforces the tragedy. A terracotta copy of the work is housed in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

The work was featured in the exhibition I Tesori della Fede (Treasures of the Faith), which was organized by the Catholic Diocese of Venice for the Jubilee Celebration in 2000. Save Venice restored several other works for the occasion, including Giovanni Maria Morlaiter’s Apparition of the Christ Child to Saint Anthony of Padua, also at the Istituto Canal-Marovich; the Bust of the Madonna at San Giovanni in Bragora, possibly by Morlaiter as well; and the Saint Sebastian relief at Santi Apostoli.

The sculpture was restored by conservator Toto Bergamo and the Sansovino restoration firm, with the guidance of project director Adriana Augusti of the Superintendency of Fine Arts of Venice.

For select projects, conservation dossiers in Italian containing limited textual and photographic documentation may be available for consultation by appointment at the Venice office of Save Venice and the Rosand Library & Study Center. For inquiries, please contact us at venice@savevenice.org.

Pietro Baratta (1659–1729)
Pietà
c. 1712-1717, Carrara marble
99 x 90 x 43 cm

Mason Rinaldi, Stefania and Renato Polacco, eds. I tesori della fede. Oreficeria e scultura dalle chiese di Venezia. Venice: Marsilio, 2000.