Vesperbild – Netherlands 15th century

This small alabaster sculpture dating from the 15th century depicts a Virgin in Pity, a scene from Christian tradition in which the Virgin Mary cradles the lifeless body of her son, Christ, on her lap after he was taken down from the cross. Although this moment does not appear in the Gospels, it became widely known from the 14th century onwards under the influence of apocryphal writings, the Devotio moderna, and German mystical writings. The latter saw Mary as a mother symbolically reliving motherhood by holding her dead son as an infant.

In this context, images of the Virgin in Piety—often referred to by the German term Vesperbild, in reference to the evening prayer commemorating the death of Christ—become objects of personal devotion to be handled or contemplated in a private setting.

This work is attributed to the workshop of the Master known as Rimini, an anonymous sculptor active in the 15th century, probably in the southern Netherlands or southern Germany. His identity remains unknown, but his distinctive style and the exceptional quality of his alabaster works have made it possible to identify some forty of them scattered throughout Europe.

His workshop was one of the most influential in late Gothic Europe, specializing in the production of religious alabaster statuettes for a wealthy clientele spread across the continent. His distinctive style is recognizable here: the drapery with broken folds unfolds vigorously, forming broken and protruding lines, particularly visible in Mary’s meticulously crafted cloak. Details such as gestures and hairstyles are treated individually with great naturalism, while the faces have marked, clear features with prominent bone structure, combining expressiveness and sobriety.

The Virgin looks at her son with restrained sadness, almost silent, her eyelids lowered and her lips closed, reinforcing the introspective nature of the scene. Seated, she holds a corner of her veil in her left hand in a gesture of grief and with her other hand rests on her reclining son. Christ is depicted in a rigid horizontal position, his body emaciated, his arms stretched out along his mother’s legs, in a position that evokes both death and abandonment. The finesse of execution and craftsmanship characteristic of the master can be seen in the natural veins, the deep carving, and Christ’s open mouth.

The chosen material, alabaster, gives this sculpture a luminous softness and great finesse of execution. Relatively little used before the 14th century, alabaster then experienced a resurgence of interest. Although England was a major center for the extraction and carving of this material, continental workshops, particularly in the Netherlands and the Holy Roman Empire, were able to compete by producing works of high quality, sometimes even more inventive and detailed. The Master of Rimini was part of this tradition, and his sculptures, although modest in size, are distinguished by the purity of the material: an off-white alabaster, sometimes slightly veined.

This Pietà thus bears witness both to the profound spirituality of its era and to the technical excellence of a workshop at the height of its art. With its sober beauty, balanced composition, and noble materials, it embodies a pivotal moment in the history of religious sculpture in Europe at the end of the Middle Ages.