The most famous of four Pietàs by Michelangelo is a sculpture at Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
1635–45; < Italian: literally, pity < Latin pietās piety; cf. pity
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The most elucidating superimposes a Pietà by Anne-Louis Girodet, David’s little-known pupil, over David’s “Marat.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 21, 2025
Last year, the local alderman threatened to downzone the church property, reducing its value to developers, and its Pietà had to be moved from the church with a police escort.
From Slate • Jul. 13, 2023
Later paintings of the Flight into Egypt or the Pietà appear almost amateurish, with unconvincing drapery and lurid color.
From New York Times • Dec. 9, 2022
I took all the time in the world at the Pietà.
From Washington Post • Nov. 21, 2022
The Pietà was placed in St. Peter’s Church, where it still remains.
From A History of Art for Beginners and Students Painting, Sculpture, Architecture by Waters, Clara Erskine Clement
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
