For Santo, the journey to making this sculpture began when he was an altar boy at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, and the pastor showed him a photo of Michelangelo’s renowned Pieta. He remembers wondering why that would happen — why God would allow Mary to go through so much suffering because of her Son’s Passion and death. This question, he believes, is the essential difference between his Pieta and that of Michelangelo. He said that through the centuries, most artists have not wanted to make another Pieta, for fear that it would not measure up to Michelangelo’s masterpiece, often considered the greatest sculpture ever created.