KOLLWITZ, Käthe: Mutter mit totem Sohn (Pietà)

Mutter mit totem Sohn (Pietà) Käthe Kollwitz's haunting reinterpretation of the Pietà transforms this Renaissance religious icon into a stark meditation on maternal grief and loss. Created during the turbulent Weimar period, the work draws from the artist's profound personal tragedy—the death of her son in World War I—channeling private anguish into a universal statement about the human cost of war. Kollwitz's expressionistic style strips away sentimentality, replacing it with raw emotional intensity and sculptural form that speaks directly to the viewer's capacity for compassion.