Pietà

[pee-ey-tah, pyey-tah, pee-ey-tuh, pyey-]

noun (sometimes lowercase) Fine Arts.

a representation of the Virgin Mary mourning over the body of the dead Christ, usually shown held on her lap.

Origin of Pietà

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for pieta

Contemporary Examples of pieta

Her new single, “Pieta,” is something you can worship and blaspheme at the same time.
Is Bigger Better for St. Vincent?
David Yaffe
December 4, 2014

Historical Examples of pieta

It was when she came to pictures of the Pieta that she burst out.
The Rainbow
D. H. (David Herbert) Lawrence
You didn't read the words in raised letters on the base of the pieta?
The Last Miracle
M. P. Shiel
She remembered how once she had stood with him in St. Peter's—in front of the "Pieta."
The Higher Court
Mary Stewart Daggett
Aida closes the scene with the same prayer to Heaven "Pieta!"
Stars of the Opera
Mabel Wagnalls
All the saints were there in assorted sizes, the Pieta, the cradle in the manger.
Fanny Herself
Edna Ferber

British Dictionary definitions for pieta

pietà

noun

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

Word Origin for pietà

Italian: pity, from Latin pietās piety

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

Word Origin and History for pieta

Pieta

"Virgin holding the dead body of Christ," 1640s, from Italian pieta, from Latin pietatem (see piety).

pieta in Culture

Pietà

[(pyay-tah; pee-ay-tah)]

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

Note

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