The painting unites the Boston School observation of natural light on the skin with more imaginative elements, including loose, suggestive modeling, especially in the background, and the sparkle of the tear-like lace. Despite the violence of the pierced heart, the diagonals, and the contorted hands, Our Lady’s com-passion here is essentially contemplative. The swords are small—perhaps suggestive of nails—and simplified. Much of the face is lost in shadow. The heart itself is partly veiled.  >>Read more…