The Pieta
Pietà by Michelangelo; 1499; Marble; 174 × 195 cm, 68.5 × 76.8 in; St. Peter's Basilica
Michelangelo’s first masterpiece was the Pieta which is currently located in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy. At the age of 23, Michelangelo was commissioned to sculpt an image of Mary and Jesus. The word pieta means pity (which not only reflects the subject matter of the piece but also describes the religiousness of Michelangelo). In order to carve this sculpture, Michelangelo, as he usually did, only used one large piece of marble. Michelangelo stated that his goal, as with any sculpture, was to unlock the spirit and beauty of the subject from the stone.
The figures of Mary and Jesus are geometrically arranged in the shape of two triangles. One triangle can be seen with Mary’s left hand, her right hand, and her head. This triangle brings emphasis to the fact that Mary is holding her deceased son. Another, larger, triangle can be seen with the left foot of Jesus, the lower left hand side of Mary’s gown, and Mary’s face. Each of these triangles’ most important point brings the audience’s attention to Mary’s face. Mary’s calm expression resembles the idealized looks of Greek sculpture; even though Mary is mourning the dead Christ, her expression is free from not only grief but age. The process took less than two years. Michelangelo's interpretation of the Pieta was far different than those previously created by other artists—he decided to create a youthful, serene and celestial Virgin Mary instead of a broken-hearted and somewhat older woman. Some interpretations of this work suggest that Michelangelo chose to depict Mary as a young women because “… chaste women stay fresh much more than those who are not chaste? How much more in the case of the Virgin, who had never experienced the least lascivious desire that might change her body?” (Quote from Michelangelo to his biographer Ascanio Condivi).
In fact, Mary’s body is the pedestal for Jesus’ deceased body. Mary is proportionally much larger than the deceased body of Christ. This disproportion emphasizes the pity of the crucified Christ in his mother’s arms. Since Michelangelo studied anatomy, Christ’s body is anatomically correct. Christ’s nudity contrasts greatly with Mary’s robe. This contrast emphasizes Jesus’ suffering and grief. The marks of the Crucifixion are limited to very small nail marks and an indication of the wound in Jesus' side.
Once this statue was complete, no one believed that this sculpture could have been created by the young and inexperienced Michelangelo. Consequently, Michelangelo inscribed his name on Mary’s sash to make sure that there was no doubt that he was the one who sculpted this masterpiece. Later in life, Michelangelo expressed his regret over putting his name on Mary’s sash.
After its construction, the Pietà sustained much damage. Four fingers on the Virgin's left hand, broken during a move, were restored in 1736 by Giuseppe Lirioni. This restoration has been controversial because scholars are divided as to whether the restorer took liberties to make the gesture more 'rhetorical'. The most vicious attack on the The Pietà occurred on May 21, 1972 when a man named Laszlo Toth walked into the chapel and attacked the Virgin with a hammer. During this attack, Toth was heard as saying "I am Jesus Christ." Due to this attack, the sculpture was repaired and placed behind bullet-proof glass panel in its current location in St. Peter’s Basilica (between the Holy door and the alter of St. Sebastian).
Sources: The Annotated Mona Lisa; Adventures in Human Spirit; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet%C3%A0_(Michelangelo) Page 2