Pietà

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 8: Peasant to Eoumelia, p. 170

Pietà (an Italian word signifying piety, in the sense in which that term indicates or includes affection for relatives), the name given in the language of art to representations of the Virgin Mary embracing the dead body of her son. It is a counterpart to the Madonna with the infant Jesus in her arms.

Source scan(s): p. 0179