Pietà, one of Michelangelo’s early works, is the only statue he made at the age of twenty and wrote his name on.

Pietà, a subject frequently studied after the fifteenth century, is the statue of Mary holding the dead Jesus in her arms. Michelangelo made this work on the order of the French Bishop Jean de Bilheres, who lived in Rome. He is currently in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican.

The work has a different mood. Although what we expect to see at first glance is sadness and pain, there is no trace of the suffering that Jesus had on his face. As if a newborn baby is asleep in her mother’s lap … It is obvious from every situation that Mary does not want to leave her son.

Michelangelo described Mary as a young girl in her 20s, whereas when Jesus was crucified, her mother was in her fifties. Michelangelo stated the reason for this as an emphasis on the virginity of Mary. In addition, Mary’s head is smaller than her body, which, according to Michelangelo, is a giant mother who lost her dead son.

Let’s look carefully at Mary’s sadness. Mary has just taken her son from the cross and holds her dead body like holding a baby. As the dead body is heavily kneeled but not complaining about the situation, we see how he grasped the bottom of the arm of Jesus with his left hand and how the skin got tense, as he did not want to leave his son. These are the silent screams of a mother who has just lost her son …

Although Michelangelo made the two human bodies in this statue made of marble, it turned it into a flesh. We can understand the weight of the body and that it belongs to a lifeless body. The pain of Mary is reflected in the expression on her face. She is extremely beautiful and young. Despite this youth, he can bear the weight of a dead body. This is one of two important contrasts in the work. The other is the immobility of one of the figures, the mobility of the other. So life and death …

The processing of marble is very important. Drapes on the fabric of Mary’s dress, the legs of Jesus, the surfaces on the figures, make the statue stand alive.

The head of Christ is lying behind, his foot lying vulnerable in the air. Mary’s questioning the situation with her left hand open.

Sculpture, St. Too small (174 x 195 cm) compared to the Peters Basilica. Because when it was first made, an order was placed for Kardinal, but later on the old St. It was placed in Peters. St. The Peters Church was also smaller than before. For this reason, the sculpture looks smaller than the architecture. Although it seems small compared to its location, it has taken its place in history as a great work in terms of its importance and the emotions it arouses in the audience.

If you want to see the huge beauty of the basilica and Pietà, you can visit it online here.

Source:

Khan Academy

Sanatın Büyük Ustaları/ Michelangelo, Hayalperest Yayınları