The Pieta is perhaps Michelangelo’s most famous Renaissance sculpture. Today, it is located in Peter’s Basilica in the worshiped Vatican City. People flock from all over the globe to marvel at its beauty.

The sculpture represents Jesus Christ lying in his mother’s lap after his crucifixion. The depiction is both horrifying and incredibly sad. It rightly reflects the time period in which it was made in that it paints a picture of realism with exceptional beauty.

Michelangelo was asked to do the sculpture for Jean de Billheres, a French cardinal in the year 1499. The sculpture took two years for Michelangelo to complete, and was first kept in a mausoleum in Rome.

There has been much damage endured to the Pieta, and it currently is missing four fingers from Mary’s hand and has even survived an attack by a crazed geologist who tried destroying the sculpture with a hammer. However, the Pieta is now safely kept in Vatican City where it is admired by many.