Käthe Kollwitz
Woman’s Fate (Martyrdom of Woman)
circa 1889
Wash pen and brush drawing on handmade paper
Käthe Kollwitz Museum Cologne
The sheet was probably created in 1889 during Kollwitz’s studies in Munich. It shows a half-naked woman crouching in front of an older woman and reaching imploringly for her arm. The older woman, dressed in a dark robe, leans forward as if to comfort the desperate woman. The cross in the background evokes associations with the fervent prayer with which Gretchen, pregnant out of wedlock, begs the Mater Dolorosa for mercy.