Flat sculpture of Andrzej Pityński- Piet Pows Dances
date: September 07, 2026 Editor: Anna
"Before you fell, yet the earth was out of hand.
Was it a bullet, son, or was it a heartbreak?”
The flat sculpture of Andrzej Pityński, besides called the Insurgency Pieta, depicts a dying boy, a remnant of the support forces of the head, from which the helmet has already fallen, holding the rifle, cuddled to the Mother, at which the heart finds peace and tranquillity.
The parent of God Pityński is not a crying mother, but a compassionate mother, taking care of, accepting in her arms the sacrifice which the full Polish nation offered in the next national uprising.
The uniqueness of Pityński's work is evidenced by both the different way of taking the subject and the form of the sculpture itself, resembling drops of blood, or heart. The full composition is completed by the inscription:
"Before you fell, yet the earth was out of hand.
Was it a bullet, son, or was it a heartbreak?”
– fragment of the elegia of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, a young poet who died in the Warsaw Uprising.
Flat sculpture has Polish form and is saturated with elements of Polishness.
The parent of God with 2 cuts on her cheek resembles the parent of God Częstochowa. Traditionally in Christian iconography adorning her lilac coat in Pityński's composition were replaced with signs of the Fighting Poland.
Christ pictured a tiny insurgent with a canvas band on his shoulder and a girl scout lily. Christ no longer has a crown of thorns, was removed from Him, just as a helmet with a white-red band and symbols of the Home Army to the insurgent.
On the chest of Our woman hangs a medallion with Polish eagle and the inscription “Rzeczpospolita Polska”.
The firearm that the boy inactive tries to hold in his hand is like the cross from which Christ was taken off.
For the young insurgent the suffering is over – now it is in the arms of Mother's Homeland, who will lay it, like many others, to the grave.
In the Insurgency Pieta there is so much Polishness, patriotism, love of Homeland that it has become more than a relief from the monastery in Doylestown. Even at the time of the unveiling, this image was taken by the hearts of not only Polonia, but, above all, of the country's compatriots, who were then in the bonds of the communist regime.
In Poland it was distributed on colorful postcards and black and white amateur photographs, which were sold by Boy Scouts,
to aid the inactive alive insurgents.
The first relief is located in the parent of God sanctuary in Doylestown, United States, popularly called American Czestochowa.
In 1990, a replica of Pityński's work was found in the church of the Holy Spirit in Warsaw, and in 1998 – on the monument of the Insurgency Reduty in Warsaw.
The image of Our woman of Akowska, next to Our woman of Częstochowa, Ostrobramska, Kozielska or Katyń, has permanently entered the consciousness of Poles.
Her presence in Cape Town confirms the uniqueness of this relief. In Cape Town, it became not only a symbol of the presence of Poles in this city, but besides a symbol that unites them in moments crucial to our nation.
People visiting the Cathedral in Cape Town cannot walk past it indifferently. His presence there allows everyone to realize how crucial this work is, which, in addition to the fact that for Poles it has crucial emotional value, will be an outstanding work of art for others.
Bożena Piotrowska-butler -post
"Before you fell, yet the earth was out of hand.
Was it a bullet, son, or was it a heartbreak?”
– fragment of the elegia of Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, a young poet who died in the Warsaw Uprising.
Flat sculpture has Polish form and is saturated with elements of Polishness.
The parent of God with 2 cuts on her cheek resembles the parent of God Częstochowa. Traditionally in Christian iconography adorning her lilac coat in Pityński's composition were replaced with signs of the Fighting Poland.
Christ pictured a tiny insurgent with a canvas band on his shoulder and a girl scout lily. Christ no longer has a crown of thorns, was removed from Him, just as a helmet with a white-red band and symbols of the Home Army to the insurgent.
On the chest of Our woman hangs a medallion with Polish eagle and the inscription “Rzeczpospolita Polska”.
The firearm that the boy inactive tries to hold in his hand is like the cross from which Christ was taken off.
For the young insurgent the suffering is over – now it is in the arms of Mother's Homeland, who will lay it, like many others, to the grave.
In the Insurgency Pieta there is so much Polishness, patriotism, love of Homeland that it has become more than a relief from the monastery in Doylestown. Even at the time of the unveiling, this image was taken by the hearts of not only Polonia, but, above all, of the country's compatriots, who were then in the bonds of the communist regime.
In Poland it was distributed on colorful postcards and black and white amateur photographs, which were sold by Boy Scouts,
to aid the inactive alive insurgents.
The first relief is located in the parent of God sanctuary in Doylestown, United States, popularly called American Czestochowa.
In 1990, a replica of Pityński's work was found in the church of the Holy Spirit in Warsaw, and in 1998 – on the monument of the Insurgency Reduty in Warsaw.
The image of Our woman of Akowska, next to Our woman of Częstochowa, Ostrobramska, Kozielska or Katyń, has permanently entered the consciousness of Poles.
Her presence in Cape Town confirms the uniqueness of this relief. In Cape Town, it became not only a symbol of the presence of Poles in this city, but besides a symbol that unites them in moments crucial to our nation.
People visiting the Cathedral in Cape Town cannot walk past it indifferently. His presence there allows everyone to realize how crucial this work is, which, in addition to the fact that for Poles it has crucial emotional value, will be an outstanding work of art for others.
Bożena Piotrowska-butler -post
