Michelangelo's Pieta Essay
Michelangelo’s Pieta is a marble, Renaissance sculpture of the Virgin Mary cradling her dead son, the body of Christ. The intricate details of the marble Virgin Mary and the dead body of Christ, though an image of death, are brought to life by hammer and chisel. Through sculpture, viewers can experience emotionalism and spiritualism which in Pieta is expressed within the folds of the Virgin Mary’s robe.
Although Mary has just suffered the greatest tragedy known to a mother, Michelangelo captures through his perfection of sculpting marble, her quiet strength and serenity while coming to terms with her son’s death. The marble of her face is so smooth, only youth, beauty, and tenderness can be seen. There are no lines in the carving of her face …show more content…
The weight of his body is depicted by Michelangelo’s explicit detail in the carving of the skin of Christ’s underarm in Mary’s right hand which notably, does not actually touch Christ’s body possibly because it is sacred or heavenly. Christ’s head is thrown back and his neck is carved in such a manner to expose it and the chiseled veins an indication of the weight of the head in sleep or death. Christ’s face was also carved to portray peace; a slight trace of a smile can be seen on his face. The sculpture’s geometric shape of Mary is in the form of a triangle, indicating the weight of her son’s body bearing down on her lap. The sight of Christ’s dead body is significant to viewers portraying a sign of redemption. Another symbol of redemption can be seen in the manner that Michelangelo sculpted Mary’s left hand; though not depicting movement, there is a certain rhythm - it is open and facing upward as though to say “Here Lord”. She has accepted her son’s death and is giving her son over to God which gifts the audience with hope and faith.
Therefore, Pieta expresses to the audience that even in our darkest hour that there is hope. Faith and redemption are not lost. All this achieved through Michelangelo’s impressive study of not only the human body, but
Although Mary has just suffered the greatest tragedy known to a mother, Michelangelo captures through his perfection of sculpting marble, her quiet strength and serenity while coming to terms with her son’s death. The marble of her face is so smooth, only youth, beauty, and tenderness can be seen. There are no lines in the carving of her face …show more content…
The weight of his body is depicted by Michelangelo’s explicit detail in the carving of the skin of Christ’s underarm in Mary’s right hand which notably, does not actually touch Christ’s body possibly because it is sacred or heavenly. Christ’s head is thrown back and his neck is carved in such a manner to expose it and the chiseled veins an indication of the weight of the head in sleep or death. Christ’s face was also carved to portray peace; a slight trace of a smile can be seen on his face. The sculpture’s geometric shape of Mary is in the form of a triangle, indicating the weight of her son’s body bearing down on her lap. The sight of Christ’s dead body is significant to viewers portraying a sign of redemption. Another symbol of redemption can be seen in the manner that Michelangelo sculpted Mary’s left hand; though not depicting movement, there is a certain rhythm - it is open and facing upward as though to say “Here Lord”. She has accepted her son’s death and is giving her son over to God which gifts the audience with hope and faith.
Therefore, Pieta expresses to the audience that even in our darkest hour that there is hope. Faith and redemption are not lost. All this achieved through Michelangelo’s impressive study of not only the human body, but