Vincent van Gogh 1853 – 1890

Pietà

oil on canvas (73 × 60 cm) — 1889 Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Van Gogh was staying in a mental hospital in Saint-Rémy when he made this painting. During his stay in the hospital he would later paint his other biblical work, Lazarus.

This pietà (Mary in sorrow over her dead son) is strongly inspired by a painting by the French painter Eugène Delacroix (1789-1863). Van Gogh had a litho of that painting with him. He copied the subject and the composition, but added his own colours and the strong expressions on the faces.

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