Käthe Kollwitz: Sculpture 'Pietà' (1938/39), reduction in bronze

In her graphic and sculptural work, Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) repeatedly raised her voice in favour of the poor and oppressed. In particular, she developed the motif of the woman and mother, which she used to symbolise protection and care, but also guiltless suffering. Her sculpture 'Pietà' unites both motifs to a certain extent: on the one hand, the mother figure embraces her adult son lying in her lap; on the other hand, the figure is, as the artist herself put it, 'something like a Pietà' and thus draws on an art-historical motif that shows the suffering of Jesus' mother in the face of the dead Christ. However, Kollwitz expressly did not want her sculpture to be understood as religious. Rather, the mother depicted is 'an old, lonely and darkly contemplative woman' (according to Kollwitz), who, one could go on to say, retains her dignity even in the experience of catastrophe.her probably best-known sculpture was created at a time when the Nazi regime had banned Käthe Kollwitz from her profession. Today, an enlarged copy in the Neue Wache in Berlin commemorates the 'Victims of War and Tyranny'. Sculpture in fine bronze, patinated. Cast by hand using the lost wax technique. Directly moulded from the original and reduced in size (reduction). Limited edition of 980 pieces, individually numbered and bearing the signature and foundry mark taken from the original. With numbered certificate of authenticity and limitation certificate. Format 21.5 x 14.5 x 21 cm (h/w/d). Weight approx. 4.5 kg. ars mundi exclusive edition.