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La Pieta is one of most beautiful and famous artwork in history.. This is a statue made of
Carrara marble and sits in St Peter’s basilica. We see Mary holding her son Jesus after he is taken
down from the cross. The cross is not visibly shown in the statue but is inferred that viewers understand this piece of history. This place in history took place in Golgotha which means, “the
place of the skull”. This is one of the most important events in history for Christianity and
mankind. We see Michelangelo understanding this important time of history by carefully and
beautifully constructing this statue. Every piece of this work of art is constructed in a way for us
ponder the meaning of each inch. This is a great quote by an art historian George Vasari about
the Pieta,” “It would be impossible for any craftsman or sculptor, no matter how brilliant, ever to
surpass the grace or design of this work, or try to cut and polish the marble with the skill that
Michelangelo displayed. It is certainly a miracle that a formless block of stone could ever have
reduced to perfection that nature is scarcely able to create in the flesh. Michelangelo put in to this
work so much love and effort (something that he never did again), that he left his name written
across the sash over Our Lady’s breast.”
The Pieta was made for a French Cardinal and was put into a smaller church other than St
Peter’s basilica. He made this for the Cardinal because the clergyman was going to use it for his
own funeral. The Cardinal’s name was Jean de Billheres and the Cardinal served in Rome. Many
people who are in a place of power always want to make an imprint on society so they would not
be forgotten after they are dead. The Cardinal had the same whish and wanted an artist to make a piece of artwork for himself. Cardinal Jean wanted an artist that knew he could make an art piece
that would be greater than anything that had already met the eye. There would have been many
artists that would have said not to such a daunting task, but Michaelangelo believed in himself so
much that he was confident that he could complete of what he was being asked to do. There are
many who believe that this specific art piece bests his work on the sistine chapel’s ceiling. When
you look at this sculpture you might think that Michaelangelo might have used multiple slabs of
marble. To my astonishment i learned that he actually used only one slab of marble. He was popular for doing this to many of his art pieces. What is also amazing is that this is the only piece of
art that Michaelangelo actually signed. He believed that this piece was one of a kind, or else he
would not have signed the Pieta. Michaelangelo truly deserves the fame that he recieved at the
age of twenty four years old, he put together a piece of art that has rewarded him and the people
that have viewed this scultpure. The Pieta looks fairly small comparing to St Peters basically because it was meant to be placed in a smaller church. When you look at this statue you will see
that in during the time in 1499, you astonishment i learned that he actually used only one slab of
marble.would guess that tis statue would be best suited for northern Europe. This style of artwork
was not being mad in the time of the Renaissance in Italy.
The drapery of Mother Mary is deeply important to look at in this statue. It brings out Her
beauty and the importance Mary has in this time period. If you have ever heard of the story of the
passion, you may remember that Jesus went through a heroundous time before he was crucified.
He was whipped and also beaten to death. The roman soldiers also put a crown of thorns atop of
Jesus’s head. If you heard this story right before you would be seeing the statue, you would guess
that you would be seeing Jesus severely beaten with countless counts throughout his body.
Michaelangelo did exactly the opposite the people would guess seeing. When you look at the statue, you see Jesus completely clean but with one hole in his side. Michaelangelo did not want
his piece of art to be a representative of death, but wanted to use this imagery as a “religious vision of abandonment and a serene face of the son.” The reason why Michaelangelo left a hole on
Jesus’s side is because this whole is very important in Christian history. There is a Christian
prophecy that many people forget about who would claim to be the Messiah. The prophecy says
that when the Messiah is killed, his whole body would stay intact. During Jesus’s crucifixation
there was a terrible story and earthquake, “there are many who believe that this storm brewed up
because Jesus just died.”
When you walk down through downtown and see the multiple of prositutes, you usually
do not see them in such a great light. You do not see them as young girls with life or someone
with a sense of moral. You might see them as someone that may be abused and looking older
than their general age because of the influences that they have run into. Michelangelo was srutinized by making the Virgin Mary looking too young. People thought that her age and her beauty
distracts us from the moment that scultpure is trying to show us. Michaelangelo’s biographer
Asiono Condivi though different. Michelangelo thought that by making Mother Mary look
younger that it would reveal her true identify and also how she treated her own body throughout
her life. Catholics believe that Mary lived her whole life as a virgen. She bore Jesus on the night
of the annunciation and was told be an angel. Catholics look at Mary with a high pedigree because they believe she is the prime model of how to be a mother. When you look at a women like
Mary, someone who is pure and chaste, we tend to see think of someone with beauty and also
someone who takes care of themselves. We can also see Mary’s somber as she is the only member of “the family” to be living on this earth. Joseph who was Mary’s wife died when Jesus was young. You could not imagine how much anguish Mary felt to lose her husband and then to see
your only son crucified on the cross.
The texture is important when it comes to viewing the pieta. If Michelangelo used any
other color other than the carrara marble that he used I believe that the art work would not have
been great. We see a dull and not exciting color that surrounds the statue. Michelangelo did not
want to represent death but he also did not want to give it a color that would distract from the
meaning. The scultpure is perfectly well contained with the single slab of marble that Michelangelo used. It would have been insufficient for the art work to be free flowing and to have pieces