michelangelo essay conclusion

Michelangelo

Michelangelo was known as il divino , (in English, “the divine one”) and it is easy for us to see why.

Learn about some of the materials and techniques Michelangelo employed.

• Quarrying and carving marble
• Carving marble with traditional tools
• Almost Invisible: The Cartoon Transfer Process

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Replicating Michelangelo

Replicas form a vital component of Michelangelo’s legacy, and they have helped transform him into a global cultural icon

Can stone be that soft? Contrast defines this sculpture. Mary is sweet but strong, and Christ, real yet ideal.

Where’s Goliath? David scans for his enemy. This colossal sculpture is itself a giant of 16th-century Renaissance art.

The many meanings of Michelangelo's David

Location, location, location. Meant for the cathedral, David presided over a public square—and now stands inside.

Unfinished business—Michelangelo and the Pope

Michelangelo left many sculptures unfinished, but perhaps none are more beautiful than the slaves.

The Hebrew prophet at the center of this tomb exudes energy and power, from his intense gaze to his twisted pose.

Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

God created the world in seven days, but it took Michelangelo four years to depict it on this remarkable ceiling.

Studies for the Libyan Sibyl

Michelangelo transforms a male model into a female figure. Discover the artist’s working process.

Slaves for the Tomb of Pope Julius II

Bound to rock, these figures struggle to escape their marble prisons. One closes his eyes; the other looks to God.

Last Judgment , Sistine Chapel

As demons harvest new souls and angels wake the dead, Mary crouches, powerless beside Christ.

Medici Chapel (New Sacristy)

Night and day, rough and polish—this chapel embodies opposition and traps the viewer in a moment of transition.

Laurentian Library

Michelangelo turns book learning on its head. Defying classical grammar, he speaks his own architectural language.

Attributed to Daniele da Volterra, Michelangelo Buonarroti , c. 1545, oil on wood, 88.3 x 64.1 cm ( The Metropolitan Museum of Art )

“Who was Michelangelo?”

Essay by Dr. Tamara Smithers

Michelangelo Buonarotti—the Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, and poet—was called “Il Divino” (The Divine One) by his contemporaries because they perceived his artworks to be otherworldly. His art was in high demand, and thought to have terribilità , poorly translated as “terribleness” and better described as powerfulness. He was mythologized by followers, emulated by artists, celebrated by humanists, and patronized by a total of nine popes. As commemorations, over one hundred portraits of him were created during the sixteenth century alone, far more than any other artist at the time. Despite three biographies written about the artist during his own lifetime, we know the most about the sometimes-generous and often-humorous perfectionist through his letters. Not only do we have more primary sources on Michelangelo than any other historical artist, he is one of the most written-about artists of all time. In today’s terms, Michelangelo was a workaholic homebody whose cats missed him when he was away. He did not like to debate art, waste time, or show his work before he was ready. Despite a few mid-career collaborations, Michelangelo was careful and guarded, never running a typical workshop, locking his studio, and burning drawings. He also complained a lot, and, at times, could be overconfident, curt, and blunt, once resulting in a punch in the nose.

Better late than never

Although he became an artistic superstar, Michelangelo’s start was different from most artists of his time. His initial success can be credited to his family’s connections to the powerful, noble Florentine family, the Medici. In the early 1490s, he learned carving under the tutelage of a student of Donatello , Bertoldo di Giovanni, at the Medici sculpture garden. Upon entering the workshop of the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio , Michelangelo began his official professional training at the age of thirteen, several years later than usual (and unlike typical apprentices who had to pay to study under a master, Michelangelo was paid, perhaps due to his family’s relations to the Medici or his innate talent). However, he desired to sculpt instead, stating that he drank in his love of stone carving from his wet nurse , who came from a family of simple pastoral stonecutters.[1] To emphasize this aspect of himself for the first few decades of his career, he signed his letters “Michelangelo Sculptor.” Also important to his formative years was the dissection of cadavers to learn anatomy. The challenging conditions—after hours by candlelight and without refrigeration—called to only the most dedicated artists.

Michelangelo, Pietà , marble, 1498–1500 (Saint Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Photo: Stanislav Traykov , CC BY 2.5)

At twenty-three years old, Michelangelo accepted his first large-scale public project: to carve two full-scale figures within one piece of stone, a very difficult task. St. Peter’s Pietà , commissioned for the tomb of Cardinal Bilhères de Lagraulas, initiated his rise to fame. The pressure was on: the contract stated that the sculpture was to be the most beautiful work in Rome. After six months at the quarries to find the perfect marble, Michelangelo began carving the Pietà . When the sculpture was put on display in Old St. Peter’s Basilica (before the rebuilding initiated by Pope Julius II), pilgrims questioned who had made such a beautiful work. As the story goes, the sculptor overheard a group incorrectly attribute the work to another sculptor. Michelangelo snuck back in late that night with a lantern, hammer, and chisel to carve his name on the Virgin’s sash. It is the only work he ever signed, and he later regretted this act of excessive pride.

Already famous

Michelangelo, David , marble, 1501–04 (Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence)

Soon after, Michelangelo received an important commission in Florence. A figure of David was desired for up high on an outside buttress of the Duomo . He was tasked to re-use a nearly twenty-foot tall piece of marble nicknamed “The White Giant” that another artist had attempted but failed to carve forty years prior. Michelangelo stepped up to the challenge, completing the colossal statue in two years. In the end, the sculpture was placed outside the Palazzo Signoria .

The success of David led to a large-scale civic commission inside the palazzo to paint a battle scene for the Florentine government, the Battle of Cascina . This arrangement placed him in direct competition with Leonardo , who was already at work on the Battle of Anghiari on the opposite wall. While neither painting was ever finished, copies of both survive. Michelangelo’s cartoon (a full-scale preparatory drawing for the fresco), served as a sort of art school for younger artists who came to copy his figures. His drawings from this period are some of his most superbly rendered figures, with a distinct cross-hatching chiaroscuro technique. Disegno , or drawing, was considered both a manual pursuit and an intellectual endeavor and was the most important part of his practice. Sketching from the male nude was central to his art making.

Michelangelo, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (detail), 1508–12 (Vatican, Rome)

In his next major fresco project, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel commissioned by Pope Julius II , the main narrative represents nine stories of the Book of Genesis, such as the Creation of Adam . Michelangelo’s bulky, muscular figures were inspired by the ancient Laocoön , which he witnessed being unearthed in Rome in 1506. The study for the Libyan Sibyl is an exquisite preparatory drawing from this time, revealing his use of a male model for a female figure.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto), c. 1510–11, red chalk, with small accents of white chalk on the left shoulder of the figure in the main study, 28.9 × 21.4 cm ( The Metropolitan Museum of Art )

Michelangelo began painting the ceiling with the traditional method of using cartoons to transfer the design onto the wet plaster, but he became so proficient towards the end, he worked freehand. He also claimed to work without assistants (despite evidence otherwise), and preferred to keep his work private until finished. One story relays that he threw planks at Pope Julius II from the scaffolding, mistaking him for a spy![2]

Michelangelo, AB XIII, 111 Sonnet and self-portrait, 1509/1512 (Casa Buonarotti, Florence)

The ceiling took Michelangelo over four years to paint. Initially, he did not want the commission, claiming that painting was not his art. He wrote a satirical poem about his personal struggle paired with a caricature of himself standing to paint: “With my beard towards heaven… I am bent like a Syrian bow….”[3]

Michelangelo, Creation of Adam , ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (detail), 1508–12, Vatican, Rome

Mid-Career but not middle of the pack

Michelangelo was initially called to Rome in 1505 to carve the tomb of Julius II intended for the center of New St. Peter’s Basilica , soon to be under construction. If fully realized, the monument would have contained over forty life-size figures, impossible for Michelangelo to ever have finished. The memorial was finally erected, in a reduced form in 1545, as a wall tomb in S. Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, Moses , 1513–15, Carrara marble, 254 cm (8 feet, 3 inches) high, Tomb of Pope Julius II (della Rovere), 1505–45, San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome (photo: Jörg Bittner Unna , CC BY 3.0)

The monumental Moses , intended for an upper corner, is now featured as the main figure. Two series of figures were never placed in the final arrangement: two bound “ slaves ” in the Louvre Museum in Paris and four struggling “captives” in the Accademia Museum in Florence. The Captives , likely carved in the 1520s, are bulky, block-like, and rough, where one can see the artist’s cross-hatching marks made with the gradina , a multi–toothed chisel . His preferred tool, the cane , a dog-toothed chisel, left distinct groove lines on the surface of the marble. Because of the roughness, these, and other sculptures, have been labeled non-finito , or unfinished, a topic much debated in scholarship.

From left to right: Michelangelo, Slaves (commonly referred to as the  Dying Slave and the  Rebellious Slave ), 1513–15, marble, 2.09 m high (Musée du Louvre, Paris, photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0); Captives (commonly referred to as the Atlas Captive and the Bearded Captive ), c. 1530–34, marble, 2.77 m and 2.63 m high (Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence, photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Michelangelo traveled back and forth from Rome and Florence during the late 1510s and 20s. In Florence, he worked for Julius’ successor, Pope Leo X de’ Medici, on the façade of the family’s church, San Lorenzo, which was never completed. It was here, though, where he honed his entrepreneurial skills, managing hundreds of workers under his direction. Michelangelo continued Medici employment under Pope Clement VII, designing the Laurentian Library and the New Sacristy .

Michelangelo, Tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici, 1526-33, marble, 630 x 420 cm (New Sacristy, San Lorenzo, Florence) (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

In 1527, during a period of political turmoil, the Florentine Republic took back control from the Medici. Two years later, the city came under siege by troops of Holy Roman Empire and the Medici were reinstalled. Despite his longtime connections to the family, Michelangelo, a republican at heart, left Florence forever in 1534.

Michelangelo, Last Judgment , Sistine Chapel, altar wall, fresco, 1534–1541 (Vatican City, Rome) (photo: Richard Mortel, CC BY 2.0)

Late life in the Eternal City

Michelangelo’s second fresco in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the Last Judgment , was commissioned by Pope Paul III and was painted between 1535 and 1541. It also functioned as a study tool for artists. Giorgio Vasari, the sixteenth-century artist and biographer, claimed that artists no longer needed to study live models from nature since every conceivable human position was represented in Michelangelo’s fresco. To accomplish this, Michelangelo positioned tiny wax models to help develop the complex, large-scale composition. Reliance on Michelangelo’s contorted figures by later artists resulted in a sense of artificiality, a prized characteristic of Mannerism . The artist was constantly developing new working practices. For example, in order to extend working hours, Michelangelo made a headlamp with a special wax candle so he could paint into the late hours of the night, often forgetting to eat. Long days proved dangerous though, and he took a bad fall off the scaffolding, nearly breaking his leg.

Left: Michelangelo, Piazza and palazzi of the Capitoline Hill, Rome, 1536–1546 (photo: Lawrence OP , CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); Right: Michelangelo, Dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Rome, 1546–1564 (photo: Steven Zucker , CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Michelangelo became a Roman citizen in 1537, and it was here that he established his legacy as an architect. During the last two decades of his long life, Michelangelo focused on architectural commissions, sculpting only for himself. His major projects included renovating the Capitoline Hill and overseeing the construction of St. Peter’s (without pay for not only the salvation of his soul but also to retain complete creative control). As a devout Christian, Michelangelo made pilgrimage to all of Rome’s seven martyr churches during his old age. As he aged, he became more and more stubborn, riding his horse in the rain, for example. Owning horses was seen as an aristocratic endeavor, a status the artist became increasingly concerned with over the years. In his 1553 biography by Ascanio Condivi written with the artist’s consultation, Michelangelo emphasized his family’s nobility as a descendent of the counts of Canossa.

Michelangelo, Pietà for Vittoria Colonna, c. 1538–44, black chalk on paper, 28.9 x 18.9 cm ( Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum , Boston)

The artist never had children (he claimed his artworks were his children), or even proper students. Instead, he sought to groom his nephew Lionardo as the sole Buonarotti heir. Michelangelo also established many great friendships such as that with Vittoria Colonna, whom he gifted a devotional Pietà drawing. He turned to this theme for his own tomb memorial, now known as the Florentine Pietà . Michelangelo attempted to carve four figures out of one marble block, a nearly impossible task. This act was in direct competition with the famed ancient Laocoön , which, despite legend, was discovered by the artist to have been made of several pieces of stone. Here, Mary holds the dead Christ with Mary Magdalene on the left and Nicodemus behind them, figures who each witnessed the death of Christ. Michelangelo carved his self-portrait in the face of Nicodemus, placing himself over Christ in a last wish for salvation. In the end, this image did not adorn his tomb. However, he continued to carve almost daily up until his death in 1564; an onlooker described the eighty-something year old’s blows with a hammer as incredible.

Michelangelo, Deposition (The Florentine Pietà ), c. 1547–55, marble, 2.26 m high (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, Florence, photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen , CC-BY 2.5)

The Florentine Art Academy, founded under the leadership of Vasari a year before Michelangelo died, erected the largest funerary memorial for an artist to date, naming him the father of the arts. Artists throughout the ages—from Caravaggio to Bernini, to Reynolds to Rodin , to Picasso to Hockney—looked to the art of Michelangelo as the founder of a forceful, new figural style. Michelangelo elevated the status of the artist more than any other artist of his time. He valued artistic freedom and personal expression, making art his way. Only with this in mind, can his creative vision and legend truly be appreciated.

Michelangelo’s tomb, Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence (photo: Walwyn , CC BY-NC 2.0)

• Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects , vol. IX, translated by Gaston du C. de Vere (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1912, p. 4–5).
• Ibid, p. 25.
• James Saslow, trans. The Poetry of Michelangelo (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991), p. 70.

Additional resources:

Vasari’s Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects in English translation at Project Gutenberg

Second edition of Vasari’s Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors and Architects in Italian at Archive.org

Virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo’s design for the Tomb of Pope Julius II della Rovere at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

See more pictures of the Medici Chapel (New Sacristy)

James Ackerman, The Architecture of Michelangelo (Chicago: University Chicago Press, 1986) 

Francis Ames-Lewis and Paul Joannides, eds. Reactions to the Master: Michelangelo’s Effect on Art and Artists in the Sixteenth Century (Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing, 2003)

Umberto Baldini and Perugi Liberto, The Complete Sculpture of Michelangelo (London. Thames and Hudson, 1982) 

Carmen C Bambach, et. al, eds., Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman & Designer (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017)

Leonard Barkan, Michelangelo: A Life on Paper (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011) 

Bernadine Barnes, Michelangelo and the Viewer in his Time (London: Reaction Books, 2017)

Paul Barolsky, Michelangelo’s Nose: A Myth and its Maker (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997)

______ , The Faun in the Garden: Michelangelo and the Poetic Origins of Italian Renaissance Art (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994)

Anscanio Condivi, The Life of Michelangelo . Edited by Hellmut Wohl. Translated by Alice Sedgwick Wohl. 2nd ed. (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999)

Robert J. Clements, Michelangelo: A Self-Portrait (New York: New York University Press, 1968)

Charles De Tolnay, Michelangelo: Sculptor, Painter, Architect (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975)

Rona Goffen. Renaissance Rivals: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, Titian (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004) 

Marcia B. Hall, ed.  Michelangelo’s ‘Last Judgment’  (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).

Howard Hibbard, Michelangelo . 2nd ed. (New York: Harper and Row, 1974)

Deborah Parker, Michelangelo and the Art of Letter Writing (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014) 

Lisa Pon, “Michelangelo’s Lives : Sixteenth-Century Books by Vasari, Condivi, and Others.” The Sixteenth Century Journal 27 (1997): 1015–1037.

Pina Ragionieri and Gary M. Radke, Michelangelo: The Man and the Myth , exhibition catalogue. Translated by Christian and Silvia DuPont (Syracuse, NY: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008)

James M. Saslow, The Poetry of Michelangelo: An Annotated Translation (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991)

Tamara Smithers, ed., Michelangelo in the New Millennium (Boston: Brill, 2016)

______ , The Cults of Raphael and Michelangelo: Artistic Sainthood and Memorials as a Second Life  (New York and London: Routledge, 2023)

David Summers, Michelangelo and the Language of Art (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981)

Giorgio Vasari, Lives of the Most Eminent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects . 10 vols. Translated by Gaston du C. De Vere ( New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1912)

______ , Lives of the Artists . 2. vols. Translated by George Bull (London: Penguin, 1965)

William E. Wallace, Michelangelo, God’s Architect: The Story of his Final Years and Greatest Masterpiece . Princeton: Princeton University, 2019. 

______ , Michelangelo: The Artist, the Man and His Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010) 

______ , Michelangelo: The Complete Sculpture, Painting, Architecture (New York: Universe, 2009)

______ , ed. Michelangelo, Selected Scholarship in English : Life and Early Works . 5 vols. (New York: Garland Publishing, 1995)

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Michelangelo’s Sculpture

Selected essays.

Leo Steinberg

320 pages | 121 color plates, 127 halftones | 8 1/2 x 11 | © 2018

Essays by Leo Steinberg

Art: American Art , Art Criticism , European Art

History: European History

Religion: Christianity

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"Steinberg returns the act of looking to center stage, insisting on it as the primary, indispensable instrument for understanding works of art. In an intellectual climate that holds that reading—critical theory—is the only true path to wisdom, the return of Leo Steinberg’s singular eye and mind could not be more timely or necessary."

Eric Gibson | New Criterion

"This book is the first in a series of five volumes in the 'Essays by Leo Steinberg' series, which will offer selected treasures, some obscure, revealing the unique erudition and insight of the late Steinberg (1920–2011). Steinberg was one of the most important art historians of his generation, but not everything he wrote made it into print before his death. The present volume makes available not only Steinberg's published essays and their subsequent revisions but also unpublished lectures, a review, and other revealing addenda to his life and legacy. The essays focus on Michelangelo’s sculpture . . . but also included and important are Steinberg's writings about his method of looking at and writing about art. Schwartz's preface, an introduction by art historian Richard Neer (Univ. of Chicago), and a lengthy chronology help make the man just as fascinating as his writings, here listed in a comprehensive bibliography. Schwartz has produced a respectful and erudite trove for all students and scholars interested in art. These writings, and those in forthcoming volumes in the series . . . will have inestimable value for anyone willing to take the rewarding plunge into Steinberg’s mind. . . . Summing Up: Highly recommended."

"Posthumously collected in  Michelangelo’s Sculpture: Selected Essays  are five previously published articles and two unpublished lectures, attentively edited and freshly illustrated."

The Art Newspaper

"In this well-illustrated collection Steinberg focuses on Michelangelo's sculpted Pietàs , presciently treating issues of historical and contemporary reception, of the status and evidentiary value of copies, and of the 'mixed temporality' of Renaissance art. . . . While by now it is a trope of Steinberg reviews to comment on the lucidity, elegance and engaging quality of his writing style, the praise bears repeating here. What I found most impressive in this moment of increased scholarly isolation was the sense of voice and presence that Steinberg brings to his writing. One often feels as if in direct conversation with the author, and moments of genuine hilarity bubble up throughout the text. . . . I can find virtually no fault with this compelling collection: even up to fifty years later, Leo Steinberg's words still give food for thought, granting us the rare opportunity to 'look anew' at some cherished old masterpieces."

“Sheila Schwartz, an art historian who worked closely with Steinberg, has edited these essays with a discernment that’s matched by the elegance of the volumes, which are among the most beautifully produced art books of recent years.”

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"This collection of Steinberg’s essays is beautiful, scholarly, and a credit to Schultz, Neer, and Steinberg himself."

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Edward A. Vazquez

Doris Salcedo

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Antony Gormley on Sculpture

Antony Gormley

Isa Genzken

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Michelangelo, the Sistine Chapel ceiling: illustrations, introductory essays, backgrounds and sources, critical essays

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Art Essay of the Month: Pietà (1497–1499) by Michelangelo (1475–1564)

• Written by  Manager
• AMY GIULIANO

When twenty-three year old Michelangelo Buonarroti arrived in Rome to complete his very first public commission, he was provided with a single block of marble, a one-year timeframe, and a sacred theme: the Pietà.

The young artist's rendition confounded expectations and catapulted him into the limelight.

The image of Mary cradling the lifeless Christ fascinated the artist—a devout Third Order Franciscan—throughout his lifetime. He sculpted several interpretations of the subject, including one to grace his own tomb. In that final work, the great master entered the sacred scene, leaving us his self-portrait on the face of Nicodemus.

Michelangelo's youthful Pietà explores sublime paradoxes of our faith with masterful innovation and nuance. It thereby reconnects viewers with the startlingly strange beauty of the Christian mysteries, giving us fodder for a lifetime's worth of meditation.

Pietà imagery originated in High Gothic Germany. Stripped of narrative elements related to the lamentation over Christ's body, these images directly confront the viewer with an unsettling scene of concentrated grief. Upending the familiar Virgin and Child trope, antecedents to Michelangelo's Pietà are jarring and violent, underscoring the horror of the crucifixion.

Michelangelo was the first sculptor to eschew this grim approach. Minimising Christ's wounds, the Florentine delineates the corpus with extraordinary delicacy, fashioning its forms in perfect proportion. Having recently rediscovered the art of Greek antiquity, Renaissance artists grasped the Platonic notion that ideal physical beauty is an expression of the divine. As with an ancient statue of a god or goddess, the exterior physical perfection of Christ's body signals transcendent divinity.

Yet, for all its perfection, something is amiss. Muscle and sinew have abandoned their agency; Christ's torso sinks into Mary's supportive grasp. Michelangelo, radically rejecting the proud and powerful bearing of the Greek gods, instead sculpts a vulnerable, supine figure. This marble "stumbling block" would be sheer "foolishness to the Greeks" and their concept of divinity. It preaches Christ crucified, for God's weakness is stronger than human strength (1 Co 1:23-25).

The history of Christian art is—in large part—a series of creative responses to the immense challenge of depicting Jesus. How can one visually capture a man who is fully divine? Michelangelo's audacious attempt resulted in one of history's most compelling portrayals of Christ.

Virgin-Mother

Artists tackling this subject face the difficulty of fitting a man's full-length body across a woman's lap. Avoiding an awkward composition, Michelangelo presents the figures in a stable pyramidal arrangement. The Virgin's head forms the apex while her legs—hidden amidst voluminous drapery—fill out the base. If Mary were to stand up, she would tower over us. Her legs are disproportionately large in order to contain the body of her Son. Michelangelo artfully conceals this fact, and our eyes are easily fooled.

The history of Christian art is in large part a series of creative responses to the immense challenge of depicting Jesus.

Christ's flesh is highly polished and almost totally exposed; he is the shining focal point of the sculptural group. Mary's body, by contrast, is entirely engulfed in shadowy folds. She fades into the darkness of the niche. Seated directly on the hill of Golgotha, she is a Madonna of Humility—a common iconographic type. Humus, the Latin root of humility, means earth, or soil.

By means of Michelangelo's artifice, Mary forms the foundation and backdrop upon which Christ's body is gracefully draped, highlighted, and grounded. Christ has no human father; all his DNA comes from his mother. Her flesh is inextricably linked to his Incarnation, Passion, and Eucharistic presence. The cloaked Virgin is—artistically and theologically—the necessary foundational figure and shrouded, hidden backdrop to Christ's humanity, the fertile soil that is its source. This at last is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh; Adam's ecstatic refrain may well have been echoed by the new Eve as she gazed upon her Son.

Mary cradles the fruit of her womb: the incarnate, crucified God. But the Pietà captures more than a historical moment of mourning, poignant as it may be. Michelangelo anticipated the viewer's unfolding interaction with the sculpture and fashioned it accordingly.

Notice that Mary touches Jesus only indirectly—through her garment—as with the humeral veil of a priest. What's more, Christ's body lies imbalanced across her knees, tilted towards the viewer as she offers it with open hand. Commissioned as an altarpiece, the Pietà captures a moment of impending motion—the instant before the body of Christ slips out of Mary's lap onto the altar below. The words of consecration are tacitly reprised: This is my body, given up for you.

Michelangelo did not want his Pietà to focus on death, but rather, as it has been said, "to show a religious vision of abandonment and a serene face of the Son of God." A pervading peace emanates from Christ's visage, underscored by the complete relaxation of his inert limbs and neck. We are witnessing the sleep of the new Adam. Saint Augustine reminds us, "Just as from Adam's side in sleep Eve was formed, so from the side of the sleeping Lord, dead in his Passion and pierced with the lance, the sacraments flowed forth by which the Church was formed."

Such serenity incites hope. Even within this sombre scene, we spy an allusion to the stump of Jesse at Christ's heel. Though cut off from the land of the living, Christ will rise, the root shall blossom forth. God's promises are not forgotten.

Self-Abandonment

The artist's signature, "Michelangelo Buonarotti the Florentine was making [this]", uses the imperfect tense and omits the verb's final letter, hinting that the piece is still in the process of being made. It is somehow completed in the contemplation of the viewer.

In its perfection of form and—much more so—in its sacred content, the Pietà unnerves us with exquisite beauty. Christ's face reveals the ecstasy of total self-abandonment, even unto death, for the sake of each individual soul. We are left to behold his gift, to contemplate it, and—by his grace—to respond in kind.

Additional Info

• Author: Amy Giuliano

Reprinted with permission from  Magnificat .

• Publisher: Magnificat

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Acknowledgement

Amy Giuliano holds degrees in Religion and the Visual Arts from Yale, Theology from the Angelicum in Rome, and Catholic Studies from Seton Hall University. She teaches Art History and Catholic Studies at Sacred Heart University, writes sacred art essays for the Magnificat, and travels the world creating virtual tours of the Church's artistic patrimony.

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93 Michelangelo Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best michelangelo topic ideas & essay examples, 👍 good research topics about michelangelo, 📌 most interesting michelangelo topics to write about, ❓ questions about michelangelo.

• Michelangelo’, Donatello’ and Verrocchio’ Sculptures of David The cast of bronze and striking a very unusual pose, not to mention the fact that the clothes “worn” by David were considered very inappropriate at the time, the sculpture represented a challenge to the […]
• Michelangelo’s Artwork Michelangelo was taught sculpture by Bertoldo di Giovanni. Michelangelo was a renaissance artist and his works were greatly influenced by humanism.
• Da Vinci’s and Michelangelo’s Paintings Comparison Two of the greatest artists of all time, Leonardo Da Vinci and Michelangelo are very much noted as the masters of the two greatest qualities of craft and communication.
• The Artwork “Pieta” by Michelangelo The subject matter of Michelangelo’s Pieta portrait is the body of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. This artwork is a picture of one of the seven sorrows of the Virgin Mary, as experienced […]
• Michelangelo’s Life and Work Due to his immense skills and wide collection of artistic works, early museums documented his works and as it turns out, he was the most famous artist of the 16th century.
• Michelangelo’s Madonna of the Stairs The sculpture is important from a historical perspective because it helps the beholder to grasp the enormity of Michelangelo’s genius as well as his unique approach to the canons of Christian iconography.
• The Sistine Chapel Painting by Buonarroti Michelangelo One of the most peculiar things about the narrative framework of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling is the order of the frescoes, with the final one referring the viewer to the beginning of time and the […]
• Pablo Picasso and Michelangelo Buonarroti He was born in the year 1881 and died in the year 1973 having been majorly involved in the fields of painting and sculpture.
• Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam The Creation of Adam is one of the famous frescos by Michelangelo Buonarotti, the Italian artist of the epoch of Renaissance.
• “The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo Buonarroti “The Creation of Adam” is part of the painting of the vault of the Sistine Chapel which can be considered one of the major symbols of all Western European art.
• The Renaissance: Donatello’s vs. Michelangelo’s Statue of David The Renaissance was a sign of the beginning of a new age in art, science, knowledge, religion, and culture that resurrected the classical models of the periods of Ancient Greece and Rome while using modern […]
• The Sculpture “David” by Michelangelo In many respects, Michelangelo’s David may serve as a metaphor for humanism in the Renaissance. Michelangelo’s magnificent work may represent the force and beauty of humanism, but it is a distinctively Christian humanism within the […]
• The Painting “The Creation of Adam” by Michelangelo It is considered that the body type of Adam and God was heavily inspired by the statue of the Vatican’s Belvedere Torso.
• Michelangelo’s “Sistine Chapel Ceiling” Artwork As a result, the painting is stylistically significant as it sheds light on the attributes and special features of high Renaissance artwork. The whole painting is rich textured and detailed, which is a well-known attribute […]
• Michelangelo’s Sculpture and Webber’s Music Analysis This paper is devoted to the analysis of the David of Michelangelo, one of the most influential and famous sculptures, and “The Music of the Night” composition by Andrew Lloyd Webber from his musical The […]
• The High Renaissance: The Pietà by Michelangelo The art of the High Renaissance dates from the late 15th century and the first three decades of the 16th century.
• Michelangelo: “Five Studies For the Figure of Haman” His drawing Five Studies for the Figure of Haman represents one of the scenes of the Cappella Sistina, the crucifixion of the Jews’ enemy Haman.
• Style and Composition: Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Some artists prefer to use definite colors to identify the mood and the primary meaning of a certain allegory or a set of images in the picture, while others try to compose the same images […]
• Michelangelo’s Pietà and Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother: Comparison and Contrast The mass of the marble sculpture appears to be shifted to the left, where Christ’s body is located; but the seemingly broken symmetry of the sculpture is restored by the semantic accent placed to the […]
• Michelangelo Merisi Da Caravaggio’s Art Influence The artists copied much of Caravaggio’s works, hid themes, his way of painting, the use of color, shade and others. So, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was a great artist who was the example, the model […]
• Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci: Two Geniuses The two implications of these is that mannerisms was used to refer to the actual style of the artist, or to acknowledge that the artist had a unique approach that was beautiful in its own […]
• Paintings by Michelangelo and Vermeer Comparison The material Michelangelo uses contributes to the strength and realistic appearance of the sculpture as well and contributes to the meaning of the sculpture.
• Four Religious Paintings of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio As was the custom, burials were done in deep and dark catacombs and the grave diggers seem to appear from the murky shadows and the strong lines of force in their act of digging seem […]
• Art History. Michelangelo’s David Restoration Hundreds of attempts are having been made by restorers and art historians to come to an agreement on the extent to which the works of art should be restored and the way how it should […]
• Michelangelo and Da Vinci’s Art Appreciation It symbolizes the incident of the last supper during the last days of Jesus when he declared that one of his disciples would inform him. The artist did the masterpiece in an attempt to produce […]
• The Art of Sculpting: Michelangelo’s David The Renaissance was an era in the history of Europe that was exemplified by blossoming culture, starting in Florence towards the end of the 15th century and, from then on, spread to whatever remains of […]
• Michelangelo Buonarroti’s Art It is also important to notice the kind of confidence in the face of David in this sculpture. In this painting, it is apparent that the angels gave a helping hand in the creation of […]
• Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti The same light is used to tell us more about the environment The extreme end of the image which represent the distance between the lady and the landscape is lighter.
• An Analysis of Michelangelo’s Work In the essay, a detailed analysis of the Pieta shall be given particularly criticizing an error that Michelangelo had made in the design of the sculpture.
• Comparing and Contrasting sculptures of Michelangelo and Rodin
• Michelangelo Buonarroti’s Life And Attitude
• Renaissance Humanism and Michelangelo’s Sculpture of David
• Renaissance Culture: Donatello, Michelangelo and Shakespeare
• Michelangelo: Renowned Artist and Expert Anatomist
• Michelangelo’s Tomb Projects and Inspiration
• Michelangelo Buonarroti His Life and Work
• Michelangelo’s Personality and Things He Brought to People
• The True Meaning and Characteristics of Michelangelo’s Work
• Michelangelo’s The Rome Pieta and Crouching Boy, and Nola’s Monument of Don Pedro of Toledo
• The Painting, Sections, Theme, and Restoration of Michelangelo’s Frescoes on the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
• Michelangelo as Archetypal Renaissance Artist
• Mannerism: Michelangelo and High Renaissance
• Michelangelo: The Greatest Artist of the Renaissance Era
• Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Ceiling, Defining the Traits of the High Renaissance Period
• Man, Love, and Women Speaking of Michelangelo
• Michelangelo and the Italian Renaissance
• Michelangelo and Jacopo Sansovino’s Relationship
• Michelangelo and His Works in Various Fields of Art
• The Michelangelo Effect: Art Improves the Performance in a Virtual Reality Task Developed for Upper Limb Neurorehabilitation
• Comparing the Similarities and Differences Between the Sculptures of Michelangelo and Brian Bress
• The Life and Works of Art of the Famous Renaissance Artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Michelangelo and the Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
• The Hidden Meanings Within Michelangelo ‘s Creation
• The Life, Times and Influence of Popular Artist, Michelangelo
• Imaginative Michelangelo: Agony and Ecstasy
• The Last Judgment and the Life of the Painter, Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Comparing and Contrasting the Death of Marat and Michelangelo’s
• Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Greatest of the Italian Renaissance Artists
• Comparing the Similarities and Differences Between the Statue of David by Michelangelo and Bernini
• The Working Relationship Between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo
• Ethical Considerations Concerning Michelangelo Works
• Painting The Sistine Chapel By Michelangelo
• Michelangelo Sistine Chapel How Is It Humanism
• The Ethical and Philosophical Situations Throughout the Life of the Italian Artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti
• Comparing and Contrasting the Renaissance Artworks Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci and Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo
• Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling
• Michelangelo’s Fresco the Last Judgment
• What Are the Features of the “Madonna of the Stairs” – Michelangelo’s Earliest Marble Work?
• What Are the Similarities and Differences Between Three Different Statues of David – By Donatello, Michelangelo, and Bernini?
• Why Did Michelangelo Use Different Groups of Figures in the Two Frescoes of the Pauline Chapel, the Crucifixion of Saint Peter, and the Conversion of Saul?
• How Did Michelangelo’s Youth Stay in Florence, the Largest Center of Art and Education in Italy, Affect His Work?
• What Creative Abilities and Mastery of Michelangelo in Various Artistic Fields Define Him as an Archetypal Man of the Renaissance?
• What Unites Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Raphael as the Three Giants of the Florentine High Renaissance?
• Why Did Michelangelo’s Work Have a Lasting Impact on Western Art?
• What Is the True Meaning and Characteristics of Michelangelo’s Work?
• How Did Michelangelo’s Catholic Faith Influence His Work?
• What Are the Similarities and Differences Between Leonardo’s Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s David?
• Why Was Michelangelo Often Called Il Divino (‘The Divine One’)?
• What Was the Working Relationship Between Pope Julius II and Michelangelo?
• Is Michelangelo’s Talent Still on Display After Restoration in the Sistine Chapel?
• What Influence Did Michelangelo’s Works Have On Artists, Sculptors, and Architects of Many Generations?
• Was Michelangelo the Greatest Artist of the Renaissance Era?
• What Are the Similarities and Differences Between the Sculptures of Michelangelo and Rodin?
• What Sculptural Methods Did Michelangelo Use and How Did He Reveal What He Perceived Within the Rock?
• How Did Marsilio Ficino, Pico Della Mirandola and Poliziano Influence Michelangelo’s Work and Outlook?
• Why Did the Statue of David Finally Attest to Michelangelo’s Preeminence as a Sculptor of Extraordinary Technical Skill and Power of Symbolic Imagination?
• What Was Michelangelo’s View of the Afterlife?
• What Does Renaissance Humanism Mean and How Is It Reflected in the Sculpture of Michelangelo’s David?
• How Did the Michelangelo’s Sculpture “David” Become a Symbol of the City?
• Why Was Michelangelo’s Work Inspired by Models From Classical Antiquity?
• What Are the Similarities and Differences Between Leonardo Da Vinci’s Renaissance Painting Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel?
• What Steps Did Michelangelo Take To Complete the Statue of David?
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Home — Essay Samples — Arts & Culture — Italian Renaissance — Comparing Michelangelo and Donatello’s Depictions of David

Comparing Michelangelo and Donatello's Depictions of David

• Categories: Art History Italian Renaissance

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Published: Mar 6, 2024

Words: 685 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

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Michelangelo's david, donatello's david, style and symbolism.

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