Mater Dolorosa (The Virgin Mary Mourning)

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Artist: George-Daniel de Monfreid (French, 1856–1929)
Medium: Painted plaster and wood
Size: Framed: 73.7 x 59.1 x 17.8 cm (29 x 23 1/4 x 7 in.)
Culture: France, 19th century
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

This fragment was once part of a larger sculpture carved in low relief, where sculpted elements are raised from a flat background. The full sculpture depicted Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary flanking Christ on the cross. This section is the only surviving portion of Georges-Daniel de Monfreid’s original composition. This work combines painting and sculpture and was described in De Monfreid’s lifetime as “a sculpture by a painter.” De Monfreid was a close friend of Paul Gauguin whose painting The Call (1943.392) also addressed the theme of spirituality in his work.