Michelangelo's Pietà

Miguel Angel It's one of the great artists of the Italian Renaissance and the History of Universal Art. His works have transcended the centuries and even today he is a benchmark. piety it is one of his most beautiful and spectacular works in the history of Western art. A sculpture that surprises both for its technical perfection and because Michelangelo sculpted it when he was only 24 years old.

In this lesson of unPROFESOR.com we offer you the analysis and commentary piety by Michelangelo, one of the best sculptures of the Renaissance, specifically the Cinquecento.

piety by Michelangelo is a round sculpture carved in marble in which a religious theme is represented: the representation of the Virgin Mary with her son Jesus dead in her arms.

This sculptural group is located in the St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and was made by Michelangelo Buonarroti between 1498 and 1499, a date that frames the work in the Cinquecento.

The dimensions of the work are 174x195 centimeters. In addition, this is the only work signed by Michelangelo, since, given the rumor that the work was not his, the author rushed to sign it as quickly as possible. The signature is on a ribbon on the Virgin.

In 1498, in Rome, Cardinal Jean Bilhiéres de Lagraulas commissioned Michelangelo to sculpt a Pietà or Pietà. A figure made of Carrara marble and that would be located in the Chapel of the Crucifix of the Basilica of San Pedro.

A Pietà that was always represented from the infinite pain of the mother who has lost a child, but Michelangelo preferred to abandon that scheme and show a piety from beauty and harmony. To do this, the artist represents the Virgin Mary holding in her arms the corpse of her son, her Jesus, after being unpinned from the Cross. A theme that was unprecedented in the field of Italian sculpture, being notable for the influence of Gothic sculpture from northern Europe.

piety It is structured in the form of equilateral triangle on an elliptical base to provide stability and balance to the composition. The figure of the Virgin Mary is disproportionate in size, but it is the way to correct the perspective from the ground. Thus, the body of Jesus becomes a point of support.

Also highlighted is the thoroughness of Michelangelo's work both in the anatomy and in the folds of the clothes. A detail that is also evident in the use of light and shadow to accentuate the plasticity of the work.

Both figures are life size. exposing the figure of Jesus to the viewer. This figure appears half-naked, on a shroud and avoiding showing blood or pain. Jesus follows the pattern of a classic beauty and serene, something similar to what happens with the figure of Mary, invaded by contained sadness, but with a young and beautiful face.

In piety of Michelangelo one perceives the influence of neoplatonism in the author, an idealistic current that makes beauty is above pain and suffering. It is preferred to represent the Virgin with a young and beautiful appearance, showing her as an eternal mother, beautiful and immaculate. The imperishable beauty of the spirit over that of the flesh.

Jesus appears as a mature man, older than his mother, but also within that ideal of neoplatonic beauty. Its proportions are perfect and only a few sores on the hands and feet and the lance on the side remind us of the Calvary and death of Jesus.

The work shows us Renaissance humanist ideal and Mother's acceptance of her Son's redemptive destiny. A iconic sculpture for the Catholic religion both for its theme and for the quality and excellent mastery of the sculptural technique that Michelangelo demonstrated.