Pietà Georg Raphael Donner (workshop of)

Commissioned by Archbishop Imre Esterházy, the bronze original of this relief was made around 1730–1731 for the Saint John the Almsgiver Chapel of the Saint Martin Cathedral in Pozsony (today Bratislava, Slovakia). Donner decorated the predella of the chapel’s altarpiece with scenes from the Passion of Christ, with the Pietà on the tabernacle door in the centre. The lead relief in the Budapest collection was presumably made in Donner’s workshop but after his death, around 1750. This is suggested by the ligature GRD on the left side, which marks all the pieces originating from the sculptor’s workshop, as well as by some details that differ from the original, such as the swapped position of Christ’s feet. The Budapest relief, terminating in an arch on top, bears the depiction of the sorrowful Virgin Mary in the foreground, with Christ’s dead body at her knees. The Cross, surrounded by swirling clouds and angels, emerges behind the group, while the domes and towers of Jerusalem can be seen in the background.