Pietà (Michelangelo)
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- This article is about the most famous Pietà by Michelangelo. For three related sculptures see the Florentine Pietà (or Deposition), the Rondanini Pietà and the Palestrina Pietà.
|
| Pietà |
| Michelangelo, 1499 |
| Marble, 174 × 195 cm |
| St. Peter's Basilica |
The Pietà (1498–99) by Michelangelo is a marble sculpture in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, the first of a number of works of the same subject by the artist. The statue was commissioned by the French cardinal Jean de Billheres, who was a representative in Rome. The statue was made for the cardinal's funeral monument, but was moved to its current location, the first chapel on the right as one enters the basilica, in the 18th century.
This famous work of art depicts the body of Jesus in the arms of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion. The model is the nordic one, which Michelangelo assimilates and elaborates in a personal way. It takes to the extreme the Renaissance ideal of classical harmony, beauty and restraint. The statue is highly finished compared to other works by Michelangelo.
Style
The structure is strictly pyramidal, and the vertex coincides with Mary's head. The statue widens progressively down to the base, on which falls the drapery.
The figures are quite out of proportion, owing to the difficulty of depicting a fully-grown man cradled full-length in a woman's lap. If Christ were to be human scale, the Virgin, standing, would be nearly five meters tall. This could very well be intentional, however: as said above, this statue was moved from its original location, and we don't know in which position it was before. If it was to be situated in a high place, Michelangelo could have intentionally deformed it, to balance human sight aberration. However, much of the Virgin's size is concealed in her drapery, and the figures look quite natural.
The marks of the Crucifixion are limited to very small nail marks and an indication of the wound in Jesus' side. The imprints of the nails in the feet do not "go through" to the underside of the foot. The detail in the sculpture is exceptional and shows amazing emotion from Mary.
Interpretations
The Madonna is represented as being very young, and about this peculiarity there are different interpretations. One is that her youth symbolizes her incorruptible purity, as Michelangelo himself said to his biographer and fellow sculptor Ascanio Condivi:
- Do you not know that chaste women stay fresh much more than those who are not chaste? How much more in the case of the Virgin, who had never experienced the least lascivious desire that might change her body?
A third interpretation is that suggested by Condivi shortly after the passage quoted above: simply that "such freshness and flower of youth, besides being maintained in by natural means, were assisted by act of God".
Yet another exposition posits that the viewer is actually looking at an image of Mary holding the baby Jesus. Mary's youthful appearance and apparently serene facial expression, coupled with the position of the arms could suggest that she is seeing her child, while the viewer is seeing an image of the future.
Precedent
While there was a precedent for painted depictions of the Virgin lamenting over the dead Christ in Florentine art, the subject appears to have been novel to Italian sculpture. There was, however, a tradition of sculptured pietàs in Northern art, particularly in the Cardinal's native France. In addition, the church of San Domenico in Bologna had a German sculpted pietà. This has led some to believe that the donor (if not Michelangelo) had these statues in mind when the work was commissioned.
History after completion
The Pietà's first home was the Chapel of Santa Petronilla, a Roman mausoleum near the south transept of St. Peter's, which the Cardinal chose as his funerary chapel. The chapel was later demolished by Bramante during his rebuilding of the basilica. According to Giorgio Vasari, shortly after the installation of his Pietà Michelangelo overheard someone remark that it was the work of the inferior sculptor Cristoforo Solari. Enraged, Michelangelo carved MICHAELA[N]GELUS BONAROTUS FLORENTIN[US] FACIEBAT (Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this) on the sash running across Mary's breast. It was the only work he ever signed. He later regretted his outburst of pride and swore to never sign another work of his hands.
In subsequent years the Pietà sustained much damage. Four fingers on the Virgin's left hand were restored in 1736 by Giuseppe Lirioni and scholars are divided as to whether the restorer took liberties to make the gesture more 'rhetorical'. The most substantial damage occurred on May 21, 1972 (Pentecost Sunday) when a mentally disturbed geologist called Lazlo (or Laszlo) Toth walked into the chapel and attacked the Virgin with a hammer while shouting "I am Jesus Christ."
After the attack, the work was painstakingly restored and returned to its place in St. Peter's, just to the right of the entrance, between the Holy door and the altar of Saint Sebastian, and is now protected by an unbreakable glass panel. The chapel of the Pietà is the location where the Pope vests before liturgical celebrations in the basilica.
References
- Pope-Hennessy, John (1996). Italian Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture. London: Phaidon
- [St Peter's - Chapel of the Pieta]
- [- Models Michelangelo used to make his sculptures and paintings]
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