The Pieta by René Leleu, a well known sculptor from Valenciennes who won the Prix de Rome, is a large granite public sculpture in the French city. The abstract piece resembles and takes its name from Michelangelo's masterpiece La Pieta housed in St Peter's Basilica in The Vatican. The monument pays as a homage to the victims of the Nazis during the 2nd World War. Valenciennes, situated at the North West of France close to the border of Belgium, was heavily hit and occupied by the Nazis where its citizens, many of whom were Jewish and children, were taken from their families to work in Auschwitz.

This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.