Lot Essay
This plaster group is almost identical to a stone Pieta in a private collection illustrated in J. Boccador and E. Bresset, Statuaire Médiévale de Collection, Milan, 1974, vol. II, fig. 268. The facial types, composition, strikingly linear forms, exaggerated expressions and even the Virgin's missing right hand are nearly identical. Despite this, the treatment of the drapery across the Virgin's legs and lap shows enough difference to suggest the current group was not a direct cast. The possibility that it is instead a copy of another not yet identified group is suggested for its similarities with another Pieta from the Dumez-Onof Collection, London (illus., Ibid, fig. 269). Both of these examples are Bavarian and date to the 15th century.