Michelangelo Pieta Essay

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, Italy. Michelangelo was known to be one of the best artists during the renaissance. Michelangelo never was interested in school work. He was always amazed by the painters and artist that were around him. Thus, igniting the flame and desire of him becoming a painter, artist, poet and sculptor. At the age of sixteen Michelangelo sculpted two reliefs, Battle of the Centaurs and Madonna Seated on a Step. Two of Michelangelo’s famous works was the Pieta and David. David is meant to symbolize a young, courageous warrior with a bow and arrow ready to take down his enemy. Michelangelo mad David out of discarded stone, a fact which most people are not aware of. Some other works that Michelangelo did

After Michelangelo moved to Rome, one of the cardinals within the catholic church commissioned him to create a sculpture called ‘‘La Pieta.’’ ‘‘La Pieta’’ was sculpted from a single piece of marble stone and it was a representation of Christ and his mother Mary. This 6 foot by 6 foot sculpture only took 1 year for Michelangelo to complete it. The sculpture quickly became known for all the details that included the folding of the cloths, the ribs, and the bones which are incredibly difficult to sculpt.

Created in 1489 this masterpiece is made out of pure marble. This sculpture is located in the Vatican City. At first glance this sculpture looks like child dead in a mother's arms, which is correct but there is more too it. The sculpture represents the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Its shows his mother Mary holding him and he lays there dead. A very little detail that usually goes unnoticed is that Mary is not touching her son directly, but a cloth is between the two. This signifies the Higher Renaissance belief in Neoplatonic, that the beauty on earth signifies God's beauty. This masterpiece is not only amazing by the meaning but the glorious detail that Michelangelo was able to go into with practically a hammer and chisel.

Michelangelo’s art, which relied heavily on the human body reflected the Renaissance Period’s interest in humanism and the individual experience. Michelangelo often studied the human anatomy, and even looked at and dissected corpses. Great examples of this are two of his earlier sculptures; the Pietå and the David, revealed his true talent and also his disposition to bend rules of anatomy and proportion i the service of greater expressive power. His ability to portray humans in the Renaissance Period, which was his great talent, showing the values of the period though his sculptures and paintings, which appealed to the people of this period. Arguably his most well known work, the painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which was painted to show humanity’s need for salvation offered by God through Jesus.

One of the most famous painter and sculptors of the Italian Renaissance, the age of renewal and cultural achievement circa 1500, was the artistic genius Michelangelo Buonarroti. The man that desired nothing but perfection often reached it in his work. He captured the motion of the human figure and the anatomy of muscles in a way that was increasingly beautiful and startlingly realistic. Whether because of one of the most famous sculptures in history, “the David” or the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, that became the textbook examples for the art period of High Renaissance, Michelango’s art changed the world and he will continue to be studied with awe throughout history.

Michelangelo’s creation is his interpretation of the biblical figure of David. “The brave David stands in a tense manner, with one leg relaxed while the other holds its total body weight. Hence, this causes his shoulders and hips to rest at an opposite angle. Moreover, David’s head turns towards his left, and he is carrying a sling at his back. With all these features, many people regard the sculpture as a symbol of youthful beauty and human strength (History).” “Michelangelo’s hero is at rest, in a moment of calm anticipation before confronting Goliath (Sayre, 327).” The lack of movement and straight posture shows balance and clarity within the sculpture, which is why most people would consider this piece of art work ethos. “In contrast, Bernini’s sculpture captures the young hero in the midst of action. David’s body twists in an elaborate spiral, creating dramatic contrasts of light and shadow. His teeth are clenched, and his muscles strain as he prepares to launch the fatal rock (Sayre, 327).” Bernini’s David uses the characteristic of emotion and motion to label his sculpture as pathos. “Bernini’s David uses the space around it – reaching out into the space of

Michelangelo painted a Holy Family on a round shape panel for the rich Florentine merchant Doni in approximately 1506. This painting is the only panel unanimously attributed to Michelangelo and it is best known as “Doni Tondo”. The traditional Florentine generally celebrated the birth of the child by using round panels. It was painted after the sculpture of “David”. It clearly reflects the experience of Michelangelo as a sculptor in the colors which shaped the volumes. The figures of this painting are almost like sculptures with clear outlines of the bodies. The use of the colors in this painting is perfectly coherent with the bright colors of the Sistine ceiling.

Michelangelo’s Pieta, and Max Ginesburg’s War Pieta both are pieces of art that portray a mother and son. Both Source 3 by Michelangelo and Source 4 by Ginserberg, showcase the theme of Pieta, which was an artistic representation that often depicted the Virgin Mary cradling her dead son, Jesus Christ. While, Pieta is a traditional renaissance sculpture by renowned artist Michelangelo, War Pieta is a modern take on the Christian symbol showcasing similar elements arranged in a different style, medium and manner, to alter the meaning. Although both sources contain the same religious symbol, theses artworks contain numerous differences between them. Therefore, Pieta and War Pieta can be both compared and contrasted.

Pieta. Michelangelo’s Pieta was different from any other sculpture like this because he portrayed the Virgin Mary as a young, serene mother

He took the body of Michelangelo’s Pieta (1500) and used it to create the body of Saint Teresa. However, Saint Teresa is clothed in flowing garments that depict her inner turmoil whereas Jesus is only wearing a cloth. The limp body of Saint Teresa demonstrates that she is giving her life over to God as the angel prepares to pierce her heart with the arrow. It represents that she is passing from one life into the next, a life full of God and the Holy Spirit, much as Jesus is passing from life on Earth into Heaven. Bernini also uses light to illuminate the body of Saint Teresa just as Michelangelo has done with Jesus. They both use light from the surrounding scene, but the difference is that Jesus is reflecting the light from around him due to the polishing and smoothness of the marble while in Bernini’s sculpture, the light comes from a window above to illuminate her face rather than her body that is clothed and creates shadows and

The Metropolitan Art Museum has a multitude of art galleries that hold a variety of art pieces that have their own share of stories. The artwork that I chose to dig into the story of is a piece that the museum credits to have been done by the High Renaissance artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti, himself. This particular work is a type of sculpture in which the figures is shown in a three-dimensional form, or freestanding sculpture, that is standing at a height and width of 37 x 13 ¼ and is made purely out of Carrara marble. The statue appears to no more than a young man, comparable to a putti, standing in the contrapposto position which gives it a certain look of

In 1498, Michelangelo relocated to Rome, where he caught the attention of another cardinal, Jean Bilheres de Lagraulas, who was also a representive of the french King Charles VIII to the pope. Michelangelo during this time created his “Pieta”, which is now presently in the St. Peter’s Basilica, in Vatican City

El Greco (“The Greek”), also known as Domenicos Theotocopulos, was a painter, sculptor, and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. El Greco was born in Crete in 1541, which was then a part of the Republic of Venice, and the center of Post-Byzantine art. He had trained and become a master within that tradition and an icon painter. Among his great artworks, I would like to draw attention to “Pietà (The Lamentation of Christ)”, an oil painting. El Greco had painted this masterpiece about c.1565-70 in Italy, during the Cretan period.

The piece of art is a statue that portrays Jesus’ body laying on his mother Mary’s laps at the time after the crucifixion having been removed from the cross (Lewis & Lewis, 2008) which is evidenced by the marks of small nails and the indication of the wound located in Jesus’ side. It revolves around the major theme of Northern origin which during that time was present in France but not in Italy. According to (St. Peters Basilica, 2009) Michelangelo offered a unique interpretation of the pieta to the models since it is a significant piece of work that balances the ideals of a new beginning incorporated in typical beauty and a touch of naturalism which is illustrated by the relationship exhibited by the figures. This is made possible by his skill to prove to both the viewers and himself of the supernatural beauty.

In these two exquisite works of art or shall we call them the grand master pieces of their era’s. Both Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Marat and Michelangelo’s Pieta flawlessly reflects the untimely deaths of two significant figures that we know of today. The two figures comprised of Jesus Christ in Michelangelo’s Pieta and Jean-Paul Marat in Jacques-Louis David’s The Death of Marat. In the two pieces we see that the pair of artists portray the figures in a divine and yet virtuous way. One work of art almost mimicking the other, yet there is still some differences between the characteristics of each piece still making it its own individual self. In the following paragraphs we will be diving deeper into the similarities and differences