Gallery 19c logo
Gallery 19C
Skip to main content
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Inventory
  • Artists
  • Exhibitions
  • News
  • Videos
  • About
  • Contact

Inventory

  • Neoclassicism
  • Romanticism
  • Orientalism
  • Barbizon
  • Academic
  • Realism
  • Naturalism
  • Belle Époque
  • Pre-Impressionism
  • Impressionism
  • Post-Impressionism
  • Neo-Impressionism
  • Symbolism
  • Victorian
  • Pre-Raphaelite
  • American
PIETÀ
PIETÀ
Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow
German, 1788 - 1868
PIETÀ, 1852
Oil on canvas
12 3/4 by 17 1/4 in.
32.5 by 44 cm.
Enquire
%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22artist%22%3E%3Cstrong%3EFriedrich%20Wilhelm%20von%20Schadow%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3C%2Fdiv%3E%20%28German%2C%201788-1862%29%0A%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22title%22%3E%3Cem%3EPIET%C3%80%3C%2Fem%3E%2C%201852%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0A%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22medium%22%3EOil%20on%20canvas%3C%2Fdiv%3E%0A%3Cdiv%20class%3D%22dimensions%22%3E12%203%2F4%20by%2017%201%2F4%20in.%20%3Cbr%20%2F%3E%0A32.5%20by%2044%20cm.%3C%2Fdiv%3E

Further images

  • View larger version of this thumbnail image. PIETÀ
  • View larger version of this thumbnail image. PIETÀ
Share
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Email

In a letter dated 1860, von Schadow writes: “Before my illness, I painted a Mater Dolorosa, as my swan song and gave it to the parish church of St. Andreas [in Düsseldorf]…, whose priest is my confessor.” (Cordula Grewe, Wilhelm Schadow, Werkverzeichnis, Petersberg, 2017, p. 50). Our painting is von Schadow’s oil sketch for the final version of his Mater Dolorosa.  Both works were included in a major exhibition devoted to Christian art held in Düsseldorf in 1909.  

Provenance

Hans Pullem, Düsseldorf (1877-1951)

Private Collection, Germany

Exhibited

Düsseldorf, Ausstellung für christliche Kunst, May 15-October 3, 1909, no. 762

Catalogue note

Early in his career, Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow was a member of what eventually became known as the Nazarenes. Founded in 1809, by two German artists, Johann Friedrich Overbeck (1789-1869) and Franz Pforr (1788-1812), they called themselves the Lukasbund or Brotherhood of St. Luke (St. Luke being the patron saint of painters). Their mandate was to renew Christian art in the spirit of German Gothic and Italian quattrocento painting.   In 1810, Overbeck and Pforr left Germany and moved to Rome, where they took up residence in the abandoned cloister of Sant’Isidoro.  Here, they attracted many of Germany’s most gifted artists, including Wilhelm von Schadow.  The group’s activity in Rome resulted in the title the Nazarenes, which came about because of their Christ-like appearance and long hair.  Most of the group, including Wilhelm von Schadow, converted to Catholicism.  While von Schadow eventually became more well-known for his longstanding directorship of the esteemed and progressive Düsseldorf Academy, which emphasized landscape and plein air painting, he never abandoned his early Nazarene roots or his Catholicism.

 

In the last decade of his life, von Schadow painted a large-scale Pietà (161 by 214 cm.).  Cordula Crewe, the author of the catalogue raisonné on von Schadow dates this painting to 1852.  In a letter dated 1860, von Schadow writes: “Before my illness, I painted a Mater Dolorosa, as my swan song and gave it to the parish church of St.  Andreas [in Düsseldorf]…, whose priest is my confessor.” (Cordula Grewe, Wilhelm Schadow, Werkverzeichnis, Petersberg, 2017, p. 50). Our painting is von Schadow’s oil sketch for the final version of his Mater Dolorosa.  Both works were included in a major exhibition devoted to Christian art held in Düsseldorf in 1909.  At the time the oil sketch was owned and lent to the exhibition by the German painter, Hans Pullem; on the reverse of our painting is a handwritten inscription  which reads:  “Besitz von Maler Hans Pullem.”(property of the painter, Hans Pullem), thereby indicating that it was the painting included in the 1909 show.

 

Von Schadow’s palette for the Pietà is reminiscent of paintings by Raphael and therefore harks back to his early training as a Nazarene painter.  Mary mourns the dead body of her Son and is surrounded by the other two Marys, St. John, the beloved disciple and either Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus.  Von Schadow sets the scene against a dramatic sky and silhouettes  the Blessed Virgin Mary against the base of the cross.  Often in sacred scenes from 15th century Italian and Northern art, the patron, who commissioned the work is included as part of the figure group.  In the Pietà, von Schadow is also the patron; he donated the final version of the painting to his parish church in Düsseldorf.  While he does not physically appear, his faith and inspiration still shine through as if he were kneeling with his hands in prayer as part of this sacred scene.   

Previous
Next
Gallery 19C

Address

Gallery 19C

1500 Solana Blvd.

Building 5

Suite # 5150

Westlake, TX 76262

 

Contact Us

(310) 306-4624

info@gallery19c.com

Facebook
Instagram
Copyright © 2023 Gallery 19C
Accessibility Policy
Site by Artlogic

This website uses cookies
This site uses cookies to help make it more useful to you. Please contact us to find out more about our Cookie Policy.

Manage cookies
Accept

Cookie preferences

Check the boxes for the cookie categories you allow our site to use

Cookie options
Required for the website to function and cannot be disabled.
Improve your experience on the website by storing choices you make about how it should function.
Allow us to collect anonymous usage data in order to improve the experience on our website.
Allow us to identify our visitors so that we can offer personalised, targeted marketing.
Save preferences