Artist unknown, probably late 14th century
recovered from the old Church of Our Lady on Brüderstraße
Photo: Max Schulz (2019)
For a long time, it stood on the pedestal at the back left in the lower church: a 110 cm tall wooden Pietà, a depiction of Mary as the Sorrowful Mother with the body of Jesus taken down from the cross. It presumably dates from the late Middle Ages and is thus one of the oldest works of art in Duisburg's churches.
Now the venerable and precious Pietà must be replaced for safety reasons by a life-sized photograph. May the area before Mother Mary cradling her dead son remain a place of prayer, veneration, and contemplation for many people, just like the Mother of God in the painting opposite.
Egon Verheyen's 'Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler in Duisburg (1966)' describes the Pietà as follows: „Vesperbild (Pietà). Wood with newer polychromy, hollowed out, back closed, height 1.10 m, late 14th century, above the southern altar of the Feierkirche. The body of Christ lies on the lap of His mother, His left hand placed on His chest, His right hand hanging down. Mary is seated on a simple wooden throne. Damage to Christ's left hand. The polychromy has been modernly overpainted. The group is said to originate from Southern Germany.“ (p. 27, fig. p. 31,32)
Verheyen writes that the sculpture was saved from the burning old Liebfrauenkirche during the war, secured by the parish, and set up in the new church, just like other parts of the interior/furnishings. This statement is also recorded elsewhere. Before the upper church was converted into a cultural church (Kulturkirche), the Pietà was located on the side altar of the Gospel side, in the southern aisle.
According to Ulrike Bergmann of the Museum Schnütgen in Cologne and Frank Matthias Kammel of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, current expert assessments confirm that the Pietà was likely created in the second half of the 14th century, between approximately 1370 and 1390. However, both are remote diagnoses based on the examination of photographs.
References:
Verheyen, Egon: Bau- und Kunstdenkmäler in Duisburg, 1966.
Chronik der Pfarrgemeinde Liebfrauen – Duisburg, Teil II, 1802 – 1964 [City Archive of Duisburg]
