Sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo: Analysis and Characteristics
The sculpture of Moses by Miguel Ángel Buonarroti (1475-1564) was carved between the years 1513 and 1515, at the time of Cinquecento of the Italian Renaissance, and is currently in the basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome, Italy.
The sculpture was commissioned by Pope Julius II (Giulio II in Italian) for his mausoleum in the basilica where it currently stands.
Moses represents the biblical Moses in the book of Exodus. The play portrays the moment when Moses descends from Mount Sinai with the table of ten commandments and meets the Israelites worshiping a golden calf.
Moses It is framed by seven other secondary figures that make up the façade of the tomb of Pope Julius II as a whole. On the right and left side of Moisés, the main character, are Raquel and Lea, the sisters described in the book of Genesis that they become involved in a marital entanglement whose descendants form the lineage of Jacob.
The sculpture of Moses It is made of marble, measures 253 centimeters high and fits in with realism.
Analysis of Moses by Michelangelo
Moses It is made from a single block of Carrara marble, a favorite place for good quality marbles.
The sculptor Miguel Ángel managed to give an extreme realism to Moses applying the technique of contrapposto, which, despite being used in standing figures, manages to apply it to this piece. Indeed, it is possible to distinguish the basic fundamentals of this technique, which consists of supporting the weight of the body on one leg or side creating a counterweight to the body that forces the torso to create a small curvature in shape from s.
Moses it is a work done in the most mature stage in Michelangelo's art. The domain of contrapposto, made to perfection in his sculpture David, intensifies with the dominance of potential motion creation observed in Moses.
Despite the character being seated, the body language, the way he holds the tables with the ten commandments as he plays with his long beard and the sitting position of passivity that contrasts with the expression of action he bestows on the sculpture of Moses a deeper and more human dimension.
One of the characteristics that draws attention in the sculpture of Moses Michelangelo's are two bumps that protrude from the head. Experts explain that this representation of some characters in the Bible was common due to the wrong translation of the Hebrew word for lightning (karan) for keren, Hebrew word for horn.
The complexity in the expression of Moses, embracing different emotions at the same time, brings Michelangelo closer to the mannerism typical of the artists of the Low Renaissance (last decades of the Renaissance) and, little by little, it gives way to the baroque cultural movement that appears after the Renaissance school and is, in some respects, contrary to it.
See also other works by Michelangelo:
- Sculpture Piety
- Sculpture David
- Picture Adan creation
University professor, singer, Bachelor of Arts (Cultural Promotion mention), Master of Literature Compared by the Central University of Venezuela, and PhD candidate in History at the Autonomous University of Lisbon.
