Roman
c. 1498-99
Michelangelo
“No sculptor,
not even the most rare artist could ever reach this level of design and grace,
nor could he, even with hard work, ever finish, polish, and cut the marble as
skillfully as Michelangelo did here for in this statue all of the worth and
power of sculpture is revealed.” – Giorgio Vasari
In 1498, Michelangelo, then 22
years old, created what would become one of his most famous works, the Pietà.
Praised by Vasari and commissioned by the
French Cardinal, Jean de Bilheres Lagraulas, the Pietà stands at 7 feet, 5 inches. The theme – Mary
cradling the crucified body of Jesus – was a common subject of the time. The
pieta was a German invention showing that through Christ’s life and death there
is resurrection. Unlike works previously created by other artists, in
Michelangelo’s interpretation of the Pieta, the Virgin is sculpted as young and beautiful rather than an older
woman around 50 years of age.
One of the largest
problems that Michelangelo faced was in the anatomy of the figures. For the
sake of the composition, Michelangelo distorted the form of the Virgin
sculpting her lap and thighs larger than life. Her monumental drapery conceals much of her body but if she were to
stand up, her figure would tower over that of her full-grown son. Compositionally,
the figures take on a pyramidal form with the Virgin’s head at the apex and her
drapery at the base. Michelangelo’s skill is apparent in not only the softness
and luminosity that he gave his figures but in the drapery of Mary’s garments
and “the harmony in the joints and the articulations of the arms, torso and
legs, with their finely wrought pulses and veins, that, in truth, it is
absolutely astonishing that the hand of an artist could have properly executed
something so sublime and admirable in a brief time…”
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