St. Peter's Basilica, Rome

In the right aisle, the first major sight is Michelangelo's beautiful Pietá, located immediately to the right of the entrance in the Chapel of the Pieta. The sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary cradling the dead Jesus in her lap after the crucifixion, and was completed in 1499, when Michelangelo was just 24. After it was vandalized with an axe in 1972, the sculpture was placed behind protective glass.

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