Pietà (panel from the Roverella Polyptych)

This panel was at the top of the Roverella Polyptych.

The Pietà was a popular theme in northern Italy as well as north of the Alps, even before Michelangelo made his famous marble Pietà in Rome. Tura’s interpretation is partially based upon dramatic sculptural groups in terracotta, the closest executed being Niccolò dell’Arca’s emotional Lamentation in nearby Bologna. Tura, however, has infused his own elements, such as the incorporation of a slight figure of Christ, whose outstretched arms unify the composition.