16th century Flemish school

16th century Flemish school.
"The Pietà".
Tempera on panel.
Cradled.
Measurements: 36,50 x 30 cm; 55 x 48 cm (frame).
This work shows us the theme of the Pietà. In it we can see the Virgin resting her head on her son, while holding him from behind. The use of cold and muted tones added to the type of composition, placing the Virgin in the background and finally, in the foreground, the figure of the Dead Christ. The iconography of the Pietà arises from a gradual evolution of five centuries and, according to Panofsky, derives from the theme of the Byzantine Threnos, the lamentation of the Virgin over the dead body of Jesus, as well as from the Virgin of Humility. The first artists to see the possibilities of this theme were German sculptors, the first example being found in the city of Coburg, a piece from around 1320. With the passage of time the iconography will spread throughout Europe, and already in the seventeenth century, after the Counter-Reformation, it became one of the most important themes of devotional painting.