Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) was twenty-three years old when he carved La Pietà from a single, perfect block of Carrara marble. The iconic sculpture of the Madonna cradling her dead son Jesus stands apart from earlier, darkly dramatic interpretations of the Lamentation. Michelangelo’s Mary is calm and composed, even in the first hours after her son’s death. She accepts her fate, knowing something more lies ahead.

The death of a loved one or a life-changing loss will leave most of us feeling shattered. While we lose aspects of our former lives, we gain the opportunity to become entirely new people—to be resurrected and to begin again.

Read my essay on Pietà right here in the winter 2024-2025 issue of Parabola magazine.