“Pieta” of Michelangelo from St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City
Pieta - the iconography of the scene Lamentation; the image of Virgin Mary and dead Christ on her lap. It was a popular iconographic type in Western European art in XIII-XVIII centuries.
In the Middle Ages sculpture was inseparable from architecture. Cathedrals were decorated inside and outside with numerous reliefs and statues depicting God and the Virgin Mary, the apostles and saints, bishops and kings. In contrast to the ancient art, which glorified the beauty of the human body, the artists of the Middle Ages wanted to tell about thoughts, feelings and mood. Gothic master felt the proximity to the suffering of human. The human faces were brightened with expressive look, thought or feelings. Artists were not concentrated on the realistic anatomical proportions.
“Pieta” from Cologne Cathedral belongs to gothic style of the medieval art of XIV century. It was made of marble.
In this sculpture, the author depicted the weak and tortured body of Christ, which is laying on the lap of Virgin Mary. The expression on his distorted dead face spoke of the pain he had endured. The figure of Christ is static. But the rhythm of lines of the whole sculpture is dynamic. It makes the sculptural composition spiritualized.
Face of Virgin Mary expresses sorrow and sadness. The dynamic of her figure is expressed with the left hand, which refers to the dead body of her son and asks a silent question. This is the way the author wanted to show complicated state of her mind and suffering. For the Medieval art the main task was to show spirituality, not the beauty of body. That’s why the author did not go into details when he was making figures; it seems there is no body of Virgin Mary under her clothing, pleats of her clothes are simple compares to “Pieta” of Michelangelo, the proportions of bodies are anatomically wrong. Medieval sculptor was not interested in external validity, it was important to express mood, thoughts and feelings. On the sculpture is depicted quiet, but the emotional grief.
During the Renaissance, it was changed. The body was supposed to be beautiful, just as a spirit. In the Renaissance times, sculptors created art works in which the real proportions of the human body were depicted.
"Pieta" of Michelangelo was made of marble in 1498-1499 and belongs to the art of High Renaissance.
Michelangelo reinterpreted lifeless sculpture of Christ on Virgin Mary the laps. In this composition, the Virgin Mary is presented as a young and beautiful woman who mourns the loss of her son.
Their figures are interpreted as a single unit, they are inseparable. However, the sculptor subtly contrasts male and female, living and dead, naked and covered with vertical and horizontal. It made the composition more emotional. Large pleats of Virgin Mary robe increase dramatic fracture of the body of Christ, who is lying on her lap.
Emotions are expressed not only in the classical features, but in the body motion, vibration of clothes, flexible circuits, winding lines. Draping clothes emphasize the plasticity and flexibility of the body. But it looks like a pedestal for the entire pyramidal composition. Also it shows a hidden spiritual and physical power, contrasting with the soft features of the face of Virgin Mary. In this sculpture, unlike the previous one, we do not see the face of Christ. For Michelangelo was important to show not only the drama and emotions, but also the beauty of their bodies, faces and clothes.
