Michelangelo's Pieta

by Jo Briscoe

Our Cathedral’s Pietà – a painted replica situated to the east of the Baptistry, is, I feel, often either taken for granted, or passed without word. It was presented to our Cathedral by the 1st Battalion of the Prince of Wales Leinster Regiment in 1905 through good works done for them by the Duke of Norfolk at that time. It is, however, a replica of the specific work, now in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican city, of a Renaissance sculpture by Michaelangelo Buonarroti who subsequently sculpted a number of works of the same theme. ‘Pietà’ indicates the quality of devotion and dedication – in this case, Our Lady’s motherly devotion and dedication to her beloved son. The Michelangelo sculpture was originally commissioned for the French Cardinal Jean de Bilheres, who was a representative in Rome. The theme is of Northern origin, popular in those days in France, but had not the same popularity at that same time in Italy. The original sculpture, in Carrara marble, was made for the Cardinal’s funeral monument, placed in the Chapel of Santa Petronilla, a

Roman mausoleum near the south transept of St. Peter’s, which the Cardinal chose as his funerary chapel. However, it was moved to its current location in the first chapel on the right as one enters the Basilica, in the 18th century, following demolition of the chapel during some rebuilding of the Basilica. The Pietà is currently shielded by thick bulletproof acrylic glass after being vandalised in 1972. Michelango’s interpretation of the Pietà is unprecedented in Italian Sculpture. It is an important work as it balances the Renaissance ideal of classical beauty with naturalism. Sculpting of the work took less than two years which is quite amazing! The structure is pyramidal, and the vertex coincides with Mary’s head. The statue widens progressively down the drapery of Mary’s dress, to the base - the rock of Golgotha. The figures are quite out of proportion, owing to the difficulty of depicting a fully-grown man cradled full-length in a woman’s lap. Much of Mary’s body is concealed by her monumental drapery, and the

relationship of the figures appears quite natural. Michelangelo’s interpretation of the Pietà was far different from those previously created by other artists, as he sculpted a young and beautiful Mary rather than an older woman around 50 years of age. The Madonna is represented as being very young for the mother of a 33-year-old son, which is not uncommon in depictions of her at the time of the Passion of Christ. One explanation is that her youth symbolises her incorruptible purity – as, indeed, Michelangelo said himself. The marks of the Crucifixion are limited to very small nail marks and an indication of the wound in Jesus’ side. Christ’s face does not reveal signs of The Passion Michelangelo did not want his version of the Pietà to represent death, but rather to show the “religious vision of abandonment and a serene face of the Son”, thus the representation of the communion between man and God by the sanctification through Christ.

In the words of Giorgio Vasari (a student of Michelangelo and an enthusiastic friend) who idolised Michelangelo as an artist and revered him as a man and who also wrote ‘Life of Michelangelo’: “The Pietà was a revelation of all the potentialities and force of the art of sculpture. It would be impossible for any craftsman or sculptor no matter how brilliant ever to surpass the grace or design of this work or try to cut and polish the marble with the skill that Michelangelo displayed. Among the many beautiful features, this is notably demonstrated by the body of Christ itself. It would be impossible to find a body showing greater mastery of art and possessing more beautiful members, or a nude with more detail in the muscles, veins and nerves

stretched over their framework of bones, or a more deathly corpse. …….it staggers belief that the hand of an artist could have executed this inspired and admirable work so perfectly and in so short a time (only two years). It is certainly a miracle that a formless block of stone could ever have been reduced to a perfection that nature is scarcely able to create in the flesh”. This masterpiece dates from 1499, when the artist was only 24 years old. The Madonna’s youthful, sweet face expresses her submission to destiny, as she cradles the dead Christ’s limp body in her lap, yet the drapery of her dress and veil suggest an extraordinary physical and moral strength, which contrasts with the delicate, 15th century features. Michelangelo put into this work so much love and effort that he left his name written across the drapery over Our Lady’s breast – something he never did again in any of his works!

We may not have the beauty of the original Michelangelo Pietà sculpture in our Cathedral, but reflection on the details of that original’s very special features replicated here may inspire our appreciation of our own Pietà with its spiritual meaning and values.