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  • Pietà
    Pietà
    noun
    a representation of the Virgin Mary mourning over the body of the dead Christ, usually shown held on her lap.
  • pietà
    pietà
    noun
    a sculpture, painting, or drawing of the dead Christ, supported by the Virgin Mary

Pietà

American  
[pee-ey-tah, pyey-tah, pee-ey-tuh, pyey-] / ˌpi eɪˈtɑ, pyeɪˈtɑ, piˈeɪ tə, ˈpyeɪ- /

noun

(sometimes lowercase)
  1. a representation of the Virgin Mary mourning over the body of the dead Christ, usually shown held on her lap.


pietà British  
/ pɪɛˈtɑː /

noun

  1. a sculpture, painting, or drawing of the dead Christ, supported by the Virgin Mary

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Pietà Cultural  
  1. A painting, drawing, or sculpture of Mary, the mother of Jesus, holding the dead body of Jesus. The word means “pity” in Italian.


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The most famous of four Pietàs by Michelangelo is a sculpture at Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Etymology

Origin of Pietà

1635–45; < Italian: literally, pity < Latin pietās piety; cf. pity

Vocabulary lists containing pieta

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"The women of this country have been silent for too long," said Anna Pieta, who helped organise a social media campaign.

From BBC • Oct. 20, 2023

John Paul's body was later moved following his beatification in 2011 to a chapel on the main level of the basilica next to the one where Michelangelo's Pieta is displayed.

From Reuters • Dec. 31, 2022

Pieta Poeta, 27, a Black transgender man from Belo Horizonte, made waves by winning a 2018 national slam poetry festival.

From New York Times • Feb. 12, 2022

Julianne Nicholson was simply sublime in all the extremely challenging scenes she had — the agonizing farewell scene with Ryan, the furious exchange with Mare, then her miraculous collapse into a Pieta pose with Mare.

From Los Angeles Times • May 30, 2021

The fourth of these schools was that of Della Pieta di Turchini, which originated about 1584.

From A Popular History of the Art of Music From the Earliest Times Until the Present by Mathews, W. S. B. (William Smythe Babcock)

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