Pieta by Michelangelo

The sculpture of Mary holding the body of her son, Jesus, after his crucifixion was completed in 1499 and now sits inside St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. The piece was restored following an attack in 1972 by a deranged geologist who repeatedly struck the statue with a geologist's hammer and broke off several pieces, including Mary's nose. It was recreated from a small block of marble taken from a spot on the back.