A gesture that becomes a universal symbol of humanity

We have created a marble sculpture inspired by the photograph by Mohammed Salem, winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2024: the image of a woman holding the body of her deceased niece.
This sculpture was born from the desire to transform a wound of history into a shared symbol of compassion.
Not only remembrance, but a gesture that becomes action: an invitation to recognize in art an act of tangible solidarity and collective responsibility.

When mercy is not only maternal, but profoundly human

The Pietà is a universal archetype: from the Renaissance to today, it stands as a symbol of love that endures beyond life.
In this sculpture, the face has no features because it embodies every face. The arms do not hold only a body, but the departing soul.
There is no promise of resurrection—only the suspended moment in which pain turns to stone and becomes form.

Some images ask to become stone

There are images that are not merely seen—they are carried within. Visual wounds that pierce the skin, the mind, and memory.
Pietà was born from one of these: the embrace of a Palestinian woman that moved the world.
Love cannot stop death, but it can still defy oblivion.

Bowing over pain to rediscover our lost humanity

A body that shelters another body. An embrace carved in marble that holds the breath of sorrow and transforms it into a symbol.
Pietà is a journey through memory — the only tool we have to understand the present and navigate the future.
In a time when the excess of information breeds confusion, art returns to speak the unspeakable: it preserves memory and opens a passage to hope.
Its message is simple and radical: human life deserves respect — always.

To create instead of consume, to feel instead of distract

We live in a time crumbling under the weight of indifference and fear.
And yet, there are still those who stop, who choose to create.
Making art is not vanity, but survival — the silent resistance of those who refuse to become mere spectators of their own era.
The Pietà project was born from this awareness: marble as a body, form as a voice.
Not a remake of the past, but a call to the present — to remain human.

The Pietà as a movement, not just a sculpture

The Pietà does not wish to remain confined to a single place.
Its symbolic power lives through sharing: it will be hosted in cities and public spaces, accompanied by photographic exhibitions and monologues.
Each stop becomes an encounter, a moment of reflection, an opportunity to recognize ourselves in the silence of the work.
Thus, the sculpture becomes a collective journey — a gesture of remembrance that turns into movement.

An installation to experience the work with all the senses

Each stage of the project includes the sculpture, a photographic exhibition, and the reading of an original monologue by Federico Quaranta.
An immersive experience that blends light, voice, and matter to offer the audience a moment of shared silence.

The voice of the Pietà

The monologue is the prologue and the breath of the work.
Words and silences intertwine to welcome the viewer and lead them to the heart of the Pietà.
An invitation to understand, to feel, to remain in listening.

Written and performed by Federico Quaranta

Three perspectives, one vision

Federico Quaranta – Creator, writer, and television and radio host (Il Provinciale, Decanter).
Filippo Tincolini – Tuscan sculptor, shaping marble as a living body of memory and truth.
Mohammed Salem – Palestinian photojournalist, winner of the World Press Photo 2024..

 Foto di Laura Veschi – © Our Studio S.r.l.