Michelangelo deliberately made his Pieta disproportionate in size in order to address the physical challenges created by a woman having to cradle the body of a full-grown man. The use of disproportionate sizing was quite common in Renaissance art and did not detract from the work as a whole.
The hood of her cloak is draped over the top of her head, just brushing her forehead. A portion of the cloak drapes over her right shoulder before the lower half of the cloak becomes entangled in the voluminous layers of her dress which pools at her feet. There is flow to the sea of cloth draped from knee to foot in countless creases and folds and the overall effect has the appearance of actual fabric because of its numerous curves, folds and recesses.
While it is said that Michelangelo's intricate treatment of the vestments worn by his subjects give the Pieta texture and substance, it is nevertheless his masterful ability to render emotion from the cold marble that give the sculpture its breath of life.
There is such intimacy in the grief-stricken moment between the mother and her dead son. However, despite the torture Jesus had endured, the devastation to his body is minimal. The wounds on his hands and feet, after being nailed to the cross, are small and he looks to be lying in peaceful repose. The Virgin Mary, although consumed by her sorrow, nevertheless appears at peace.
Michelangelo was criticized for depicting the Virgin Mary as youthful, far too young to be the mother of a grown son. He responded to his critics by stating that Mary was a virgin and that chaste women retained their beauty which is why the Virgin Mary would not have aged like other women. Everyone flocked to see his masterpiece, especially other artists who wanted to examine his work up close, in search of the smallest of flaws.
People waited hours before finally being able to view the Pieta from a conveyor belt that passed by the sculpture. Sculpting the Pieta took less than two years. After its completion, the Pieta was displayed in the Chapel of Santa Petronilla, a Roman mausoleum, which Cardinal Lagraulas chose as his funerary chapel.
The Pieta is the only work ever signed by Michelangelo and it is said that Michelangelo later regretted his impulsiveness, swearing never again to put his name to another one of his works. Throughout the ages, the Pieta has not only withstood the test of time but has become even more famous despite the damages the statue has endured. They were subsequently restored by Giuseppe Lirioni in amid some criticism that he had taken a few liberties with the restoration.
However, such damage to the sculpture seems inconsequential in comparison to the brutal violence it endured on May 21, , when a mentally-disturbed geologist jumped the railing at St.
He managed to inflict twelve blows to the sculpture before he was finally stopped. When a work of art is damaged, especially one as priceless as the Pieta, its exhibitors must give careful consideration to its fate. There were various proposals put forth to the Vatican. One proposal was to leave the sculpture as it was, with the damage speaking to the violence of our time.
The second proposal was to repair the Pieta with visible seams, to serve as a reminder of its past and the third proposal was a seamless restoration. Ultimately, the seamless restoration was chosen. The restoration took ten months to complete in which bits and pieces of broken marble were painstakingly identified and subsequently affixed to the Pieta using invisible glue and marble powder.
Another nod to Renaissance influence is a structure that ultimately resembles a pyramid, formed by Mary's head, flowing down her arms and to the bottoms of her robes. If you look closely, you can see that Mary's head is a bit too small for her very large body. When designing Mary's measurements, Michelangelo could not impose realistic proportions and have her cradle her adult son as he envisioned. So, he had to make her—the statue's support—oversized. To play down this poetic license on her form, Michelangelo carved out sheets of gentle draping garments, camouflaging Mary's true fullness.
Michelangelo had a habit of shouting at his sculptures and even occasionally lashing out at them with his tools. But it was an unemployed geologist from Hungary who won infamy on Pentecost Sunday of by leaping over the railings at St. With 12 blows, Laszlo Toth knocked off Mary's left arm, snapped off the tip of her nose, and damaged her cheek and left eye.
The authorities chose not to criminally prosecute Toth for his destruction of the priceless work of art. However, a Rome court deemed him " a socially dangerous person ," and committed the man to a mental hospital for two years. After he was released, Toth was deported. When a work of art is damaged in this way, its exhibitors are forced to debate what's best—leaving it as it is like Cleveland's The Thinker that was mangled in a bombing or altering the original to restore it.
The Vatican heard three arguments on this matter. Others proposed that the sculpture be repaired, but with visible seams as a reminder of this grave assault. His interpretation of the Pieta was far different than ones previously created by other artists. Michelangelo decided to create a youthful, serene and celestial Virgin Mary instead of a broken hearted and somewhat older woman.
When it was unveiled a proud Michelangelo stood by and watched as people admired the beautiful Pieta. However, what was pride quickly turned into anger as he overheard a group of people attributing the work to other artists of his time. That anger caused Michelangelo to add one last thing to his sculpture.
Going down the sash on the Virgin Mary, Michelangelo carved his name.
0コメント