As we were walking through the Italian section of the 1st floor of the Prado, we came across La Piedad by Daniele Crespi. I started just looking at it from a technical point of view. Christ’s body folded oddly in death, his face vacant, Mary holding him up, looking up. The description said that strips of canvas had been added to the painting to make it bigger, which robbed it of its drama; but when the painting was restored in 2011, they reduced it back to its original size. This makes the composition more intense and intimate.

But then, I stepped back to get rid of the glare from the window. That’s when I started tearing up. I was looking at the intensity of emotion in Mary’s face, and it just hit me. She was looking up, both accepting and in deep, horrible pain. Crespi captured what I imagine must be the raw emotion of a mother cradling her dead son. The description says she looks serene. I suppose the picture on the screen sort of does, but in person, it looks supplicating, torn, infinitely sad. The angel at the left is showing outward emotion, but Mary is not, she seems too overwhelmed to cry.

I felt slightly ridiculous crying in front of a painting in the middle of the Prado. All of the other patrons were more interested in checking off masterpieces from their map than paying attention to me with my little emotional moment. This painting is deeply intimate and extremely emotional to be with, pulling you in to a moment, not necessarily of religious significance like you might think, but of personal love and loss of a mother.