Stabat Mater COLLECTION (SAU 22)

In art, the Stabat Mater motif represents a subcategory of Crucifixion scenes in which Christ on the Cross is attended only by His mournful mother Mary and by St. John the Apostle. In Marian iconography, it is the second of three types of depictions of a grieving Blessed Virgin. The Socièté de St. Augustin published several close variants of this image. In the others, the elaborate NeoGothic framework is eliminated. In one, among other differences, the BVM, wearing a white veil, clasps her hands at neck level; and St. John gestures toward Jesus with an upraised right hand. In another, Mary, holding her clasped hands at waist level, wears a red robe, blue mantle, and white veil while St. John gestures. In the latter, a wall hanging appears in the middle ground behind the cross and the cityscape is reduced to a very narrow register beneath the tassels. See the media section for all three versions side by side.