La Madonna della Pieta

Give the index card for Michelangelo’s Pieta

La Madonna della Pieta, Michelangelo, 1498-99, 174 × 195 cm, marble, St Peter’s Basilica, Rome

Give the elements necessary for a thumbnail sketch

• Situated on a high plinth

• Madonna is wearing a head covering and robes

• Madonna has a downturned expression

• Madonna looks very young

• Cradling Jesus’ emaciated body, who is wearing on a loincloth

• Madonna’s right palm is upturned and sticks out at the side

What scene does this sculpture depict?

• The Sixth Sorrow of the Blessed Virgin

• When Christ is pierced in the side with a spear and then pierced in Mary’s arms

Who was the piece commissioned for, and why?

• French Cardinal and ambassador in Rome, Senator Jean Bilheres de Lagraulas

• He commissioned it as an altarpiece for his funerary chapel in the old St Peter’s

How did the piece end up in its contemporary location?

• When the new St Peter’s was constructed, the statue was removed and reinstated

How was the material sourced?

Bilheres himself had to intervene with the Signori of Florence himself to source the Carrara Marble

What kind of Carrara marble was used in this sculpture and why?

• Pure white statuario grade was used for monumental sculpture

• It has a high tensile strength, can take a high gloss polish and holds very high detail

What kind of composition does the piece have? How is this emphasised?

• A pyramidal composition

• This is emphasised by Mary’s billowing robes, the gesture of her left hand, and the angle of Christ’s lower legs

What is the effect created by the juxtaposition between the Virgin’s age and that of her son’s?

• According to Martin Gayford, a “poignant” one

• Although she is the same age as in paintings with her newborn, she holds her old, dead son instead

Give a critical quotation by Martin Gayford on the Virgin Mary’s age

“The apparent age of the Virgin is one of its strangest aspects. She looks to be a teenager, or, at most, in her early twenties.”

What was Michelangelo’s explanation for the Virgin’s age

As she has not sinned, and is “uncorrupted by single lascivious desire”, she has not aged

According to Martin Gayford, why is the Virgin shown as so young?

“The goddesses of Ancient Rome were not middle-aged; a divinity such as the Madonna should appear ideally youthful — or at least […] to a mind so absorbed in classical antiquity as Michelangelo’s”

What is Martin Gayford’s opinion on the Madonna’s scale?

“The sense that this is a parent and child is accuentuated by the huge scale of the Madonna: if she stood up, she would be a giantess”

What is Martin Gayford’s overall verdict on the Pieta?

“As so often with Michelangelo, the strangeness is inseparable from the power of the work”

Give a brief critical quotation by Vasari on Jesus’s body

“It would be impossible to find a greater mastery of art”

According to Martin Gayford, how was the piece intended to be seen?

“close up, and in half-light, its pure white surfaces shining in the gloom”

Who is the narrative centered upon here?

• Mary, her sorrow and her piety

• Jesus is less important to the narrative

What gesture of Mary’s emphasises the moving nature of the scene?

Mary is still cradling her child, although he is adult and dead

What is the inscription on the band on Mary’s robes? Was it always intended to be there?

• “Michelangelo the Florentine was making”

• Yes, as it is a key part of the design and has no other purpose

What is the effect created by Michelangelo’s inscription?

• Writing in the imperfect tense allows Michelangelo to make reference to his ideals of art; even this most extraordinary sculpture could never be finished/perfected

Where did this piece come within Michelangelo’s career? What was its significance to it?

• It came towards the beginning, and cemented his reputation

• The inscription acted almost as a business card

How has the viewer’s interaction with the piece changed since it was first made?

• It is now hidden behind bulletproof glass after it was vandalised in the 1970s

• It was originally on a low plinth, but is now highly elevated

• According to Martin Gayford, “this is exactly contrary to the way in which Michelangelo expected his sculpture to be appreciated.”