Pieta

She is having a relationship with this body, one that is close and distant at the same time. Her position is leaning as if she is overcome by the impact of death and a body at the same time. The body seems to be cumbersome for her. The body of Christ is at rest; you know he is dead, yet the mere sign of suffering only comes from the stigmata, which is very faint in Michelangelo's sculpture. It is only seen on the right hand, which falls restlessly from his body, yet still attached. This body is real, as though he has just died and the only sign of weakening comes from being held by his mother. This is something that was addressed in this work. You can see the awkwardness in the way she holds her dead son.
             "We sense none of these struggles in the Pieta". The subject, of Northern origin is rare, though not unknown, in Italy before this time. This was a time when the David flourished as a work of art. It is one of the seven sorrows of the virgin. The youthful and beautiful Madonna stands for the church and serves as the gateway into heaven (New York: Abrams, Inc, 2001) 437. .
             It seems to lack the suffering that is seen in the German version of this. This German Pieta was done during late Gothic. There is no realism shown in Roettgen Pieta. It does not present that of pain and grief. The sculpture, which is of wood, is dark and miserable. Yet the body of Christ is lean and "deflated", the stigmata are present and he screams of pain, but almost unreal pain. The virgin has a look of confusion and sorrow at the same time. It lacks the flow seen in Michelangelo's Pieta, partly due to the medium that was used, wood. The Virgin is sitting straight up; she appears to have nothing but a weightless body in her hands. The relationship between the two works shows separation like a woman just holding a death man but not the real pain of a mother that is holding her dead son. The separation seems to be that of divinity, as though there was no human attachment and you forget that this is the Son of God and not a mourning mother (New York: Abrams, Inc, 2001) 333.