Pietas

[ pahy-i-tas ]

noun

1. the ancient Roman personification of familial affection, patriotism, and piety.

Example Sentences

The Brooklyn-based artist asks mothers to pose with their sons in their arms like the famed “Pietàs” of Christian art, paintings and sculptures of Mary holding the lifeless body of her son after his descent from the cross.

From Seattle Times

Here, as elsewhere, including the scene of Mamie with Emmett’s corpse that evokes innumerable pietàs, the sanctity of these bodies is as undeniable as their humanity.

From New York Times

There are angels, pietas - representations of the Virgin Mary mourning over the dead body of Christ - and Stations of the Cross at churches.

From Washington Times

There are angels, pietas — representations of the Virgin Mary mourning over the dead body of Christ — and Stations of the Cross at churches.

From Seattle Times

The Florence museum said that unlike the other two Pietas, where Christ’s body is held up only by his mother, the Christ figure in the Bandini Pieta is held up also by Mary Magdalene and the biblical character Nicodemus, whose face is a self-portrait of Michelangelo himself.

From Seattle Times