Pieta
Running head: MICHELANGELO’S PIETA VATICAN AND PALESTRINA
Michelangelo’s Pieta: Vatican and Palestrina
LAKITA S CORLEY
Averett University
Art 103
Michelangelo was born in Italy in the village of Caprese in 1475. When Michelangelo was young, his family moved to Florence, a rich and powerful city in Italy. At the age of twelve, his father sent him to study with the most famous painter in the city. He became an apprentice to a famous painter in Florence named Domenico Ghirlandaio (Quill, 5). After a year or so, he stopped paining and began working as a sculptor. Michelangelo often said, “The statues carved were trapped inside the blocks of stone. My job is to free them by cutting away the stone around them” (Quill, 6). The Pieta by Michelangelo is a study in redemption through suffering, a common theme in Italian Renaissance art. The word “pieta” means pity. In Rome Michelangelo carved the masterpiece of Renaissance, the marble sculpture “Vatican Pieta” in (1498-1499). Just days after it was placed in Saint Peter’s, Rome; Michelangelo overheard a pilgrim remark that the work was done by Christoforo Solari, a rival sculpture. That night, in a rage, Michelangelo took a hammer and chisel and scrawled; “This was mad by Florentine Michelangelo Buonarroti,” or “Angelus Bonarotus Florentinus Faciebat,” on a sash across the chest of the Virgin Mary. This is the only work that Michelangelo ever signed. Later he regretted his passionate outburst of pride and determined to never sign a piece of his work again. The Vatican Pieta is a work of art that depicts the Virgin Mary supporting and mourning the dead body of Christ after he has been taken down from the cross (Pieta, Di Cagno, 58). In this less than two years, Michelangelo carved from a single slab of marble, one of the most magnificent sculptures ever created and the only surviving piece of work signed by Michelangelo. His interpretation of the Pieta was far different
from those previously
Michelangelo’s Pieta: Vatican and Palestrina
LAKITA S CORLEY
Averett University
Art 103
Michelangelo was born in Italy in the village of Caprese in 1475. When Michelangelo was young, his family moved to Florence, a rich and powerful city in Italy. At the age of twelve, his father sent him to study with the most famous painter in the city. He became an apprentice to a famous painter in Florence named Domenico Ghirlandaio (Quill, 5). After a year or so, he stopped paining and began working as a sculptor. Michelangelo often said, “The statues carved were trapped inside the blocks of stone. My job is to free them by cutting away the stone around them” (Quill, 6). The Pieta by Michelangelo is a study in redemption through suffering, a common theme in Italian Renaissance art. The word “pieta” means pity. In Rome Michelangelo carved the masterpiece of Renaissance, the marble sculpture “Vatican Pieta” in (1498-1499). Just days after it was placed in Saint Peter’s, Rome; Michelangelo overheard a pilgrim remark that the work was done by Christoforo Solari, a rival sculpture. That night, in a rage, Michelangelo took a hammer and chisel and scrawled; “This was mad by Florentine Michelangelo Buonarroti,” or “Angelus Bonarotus Florentinus Faciebat,” on a sash across the chest of the Virgin Mary. This is the only work that Michelangelo ever signed. Later he regretted his passionate outburst of pride and determined to never sign a piece of his work again. The Vatican Pieta is a work of art that depicts the Virgin Mary supporting and mourning the dead body of Christ after he has been taken down from the cross (Pieta, Di Cagno, 58). In this less than two years, Michelangelo carved from a single slab of marble, one of the most magnificent sculptures ever created and the only surviving piece of work signed by Michelangelo. His interpretation of the Pieta was far different
from those previously
References: DiCagno, G. (2008). Michelangelo. The Oliver Press, Inc. Minneapolis, MN (p. 58, 59). Lavin, I. (1980). Bernini and the Unity of the Visual Arts. Visual Arts. Vol 2. New York, NY. Kostner, Thomas, and Roper L. (2006). 50 Artists You Should Know. New York: Prestel. “Pieta.” The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed 1993. (p. 1035). Quill, C. G. (2003). Michelangelo His Life and Art. The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. New York. (p .5, 6). TrayKov, S. (2008), Michelangelo’s Pieta in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Image. Wallace, W. E. (2009). Michelangelo; the Artist, the Man, and his Times. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wilder, J. B. (2007). Art History for Dummies. Wiley Publishing Inc. New Jersey: Hoboken.