L’Iconografia della pietà di Cristo come simbolo di una nuova sensibilità estetica
Iconography of Pietà of Christ as the Symbol of a New Aesthetic Sensibility

Summary/Abstract: In the Duchy of Candia, Cyprus and the Ionian Islands, the Serenissima introduced at various levels an idea of worship and social relations, also in the juridical field, which directly involved the very conception of the profession of an iconographer. In the regions under its rule, unlike what happened in the areas occupied by the Ottomans, from that moment on, it was no longer spoken only of artisans who worked in anonymity. The artist, as it had long been the case in the West, now signed his own icons, concluded apprenticeship contracts, founded workshops, and labelled his products in an open production system based on free competition. In such an eclectic climate, new techniques began to be used for religious images, aimed at obtaining a more dialogic approach. These images were not only reproductions, but their role was also to convince the viewer by mediating the presence of what they represented, thus leading to the birth of a new image rhetoric. At this point it is possible to understand better the renewed iconography of the Pietà and Lamentation, as the key words of liturgical literature. The reference of the depiction was not directed only to the compassion the observer felt in seeing the dead Christ and the weeping Mother, but also to the pity that he, seeking his own salvation, hoped to receive from the Saviour. The mystical contemplation of the countries of the North introduced some well-known symbols in these territories, among which we find the prayer to receive the body of Crucified Christ in Mary’s lap, well exemplified by the 14th century images of Vesperbild, or Vespers, originating from German-speaking Central European regions. This new variant, distinguished by a fresher expressive and narrative approach, aimed to accentuate the pietistic feeling combined with a new way of experiencing religiosity, and attributing a greater expressive value to the gesture of showing, which thus assumed the double meaning of invitation and demonstration: an invitation to watch and demonstration by watching.

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