Michelangelo's Pietà (Vatican), Large

The composition works on two levels. Above, on a rock ledge, stands the Pietà — the veiled Virgin holding the body of Christ across her knees, her robe falling in broad folds over the stone. Below, a sculptor kneels on one knee in a grey tunic and rust-red cloak, hands joined, his gaze lifted to the group. Books, a scroll, a pair of calipers, a bowl, chisels and wooden mallets lie across the step. The upper tier stays white while the kneeling figure carries all the colour.