The Pietà (Mary Lamenting the Dead Christ)

The canvas is identifiable as the “Dead Christ in the arms of the weeping Virgin with two little angels”, for which the painter received payment on May 25, 1667. The painting was carried out for Cardinal Flavio Chigi, along with another canvas of the Assumption of the Virgin. It is a fundamental work for the career of Gaulli, and looks back to the famous Pietà of Annibale Carracci. Gaulli, however, translates the carracciesque language to achieve one of the highest examples of “baroque classicism”. His synthesis also shows the influence of Van Dyck’s art.