Michelangelo’s Pietà: Vatican Masterpiece (1498-1499)
Michelangelo’s Pietà: A Vatican Masterpiece
La Pietà (1498-1499) is a world-renowned marble sculpture by Michelangelo, housed in St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. Its dimensions are 174 cm × 195 cm (68.5 in × 76.8 in). While the sculpture can be viewed from all angles, the preferred viewpoint is frontal.
The sculpture depicts a youthful, beautiful, and pious Virgin Mary cradling the body of her deceased son, Jesus. Her robes are expansive, with numerous folds. Notably, Jesus appears older than Mary, contributing to the triangular composition and conveying a sense of quiet tenderness. Mary’s youthfulness reflects the Renaissance ideal of representing the Virgin as eternally young and beautiful, embodying both beauty and youth. As Vasari notes, this is a representation of ideal beauty.
Commission and History
The work was commissioned by Cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas, a French Benedictine and ambassador of the French King to the Holy See, whom Michelangelo met in Rome. The contract, signed on August 26, 1498, stipulated a payment of 450 gold ducats and a completion time of one year. The masterpiece was finished two days before the deadline, although the Cardinal had died a few days earlier. Its first location was on the prelate’s grave in the Chapel of St. Petronilla in the Vatican. In 1749, La Pietà was moved to its current location in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the first chapel on the right.
Artistic Significance and Evolution
This was the first time Michelangelo approached this subject matter. He revisited it throughout his life, demonstrating his artistic and spiritual evolution. The last of these works, the Rondanini Pietà, was left unfinished at his death. Its pathos, anticipating the Baroque style, contrasts sharply with the classical serenity of the Vatican Pietà.
At twenty-four, Michelangelo spent two years creating the figures of the Madonna with Christ’s body. He personally selected the most suitable marble block from the Apuan Alps quarries in Tuscany. Following his artistic impulse, he removed the excess stone to reveal the form within, a process Vasari described as Michelangelo seeing the forms enclosed in the stone through the eyes of the intellect. In this case, it was the pain of a mother holding her murdered son. The rest was a matter of technique and patience.
Upon completion, some questioned Michelangelo’s authorship due to his youth. In a fit of rage, he chiseled his name into the sculpture, making it the only work he ever signed. The inscription “MICHAEL ANGELUS BONAROTUS FLORENT FACIEBA[T]” (Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this) can be read on the sash across the Virgin’s chest.
Comparison: Vatican Pietà and Rondanini Pietà
Comparing the early Vatican Pietà (1498-99) with the Rondanini Pietà (begun in 1555 and left unfinished) reveals a significant shift in Michelangelo’s style. The Vatican Pietà, with its pyramidal composition, is delicate and smooth, conveying harmony and calm. The faces of the Virgin and Christ are idealized. The pain is private, avoiding dramatic tension; all is calm, both in body and spirit.
Half a century later, in the Rondanini Pietà, Michelangelo prioritized pathetic impression, expressing pain over formal beauty. He abandoned the classical conception of beauty evident in the Vatican Pietà. The bodies of the Virgin and Christ are elongated and thin, in an almost distorted position. The two figures merge, forming a single trunk without a defined compositional scheme. The Rondanini Pietà also has a rough texture, contrasting with the fine finish of the earlier work. Michelangelo deliberately chose unnatural forms to express the intimate, spiritual union of the Mother and Son.