Michelangelo’s Pieta was completed in 1499 when the sculptor was just 24 years old. The artist’s Last Judgment—the enormous fresco covering the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel—was completed more than 40 years later in 1541 when the artist was in his mid-60s and after he had traded the chisel for the paint brush. Michelangelo was an Italian Renaissance artist who could do it all—but these two works represent the greatness of his skill at both the beginning of his career and at the end of his career. This paper will compare and contrast these two works and show how they fit in with the surrounding time period of the artist.
The subject matter of Michelangelo’s Pieta is the sorrow of the Virgin Mary at the death of her Son, who had been crucified on the cross. While Christ redeemed mankind, the sacrifice was especially painful for His mother, who felt the loss of her Son most keenly. Accompanying this sorrow is the feeling that there will still be some who reject the gift of salvation. This feeling is displayed in the bearing, limbs and face of the Virgin as she looks down at her Son in her lap. As Paul Johnson notes, the sculpture of the Pieta was considered at the time to be Michelangelo’s greatest success (and is even still considered by some to be so). It certainly attracted the attention of the Pope, who thereafter wanted Michelangelo to come work for him at the Vatican.
The Pieta was sculpted from a single piece of marble. It was placed inside St. Peter’s Basilica where the embrace of the Virgin to the Son’s sacrifice was an example to all those who practiced the Catholic religion. Michelangelo’s use of line connects the two figures in a triangle formation, which also represents the Triune God—or the Trinity, of which Christ is the Second Person. From the Virgin’s head, two lines extend downward in her extended arms, which lead to the Son in her lap. Christ’s body...
Works Cited
Johnson, Paul. Art: A New History. NY: Gallery, 2003.
Kleiner, F. Gardner's Art Through the Ages, Vol II, Western Perspective, (15th/e). Thomson/Wadsworth, 2016.
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