Italian Renaissance
Artists: A - L
Italian Renaissance
Artists: M - Z
Italian Renaissance
Movements/Periods
Other News in Art Glossary of Terms
Contemporary
Abstract Art
Elegant Fireplace Screens Oil Painting
Reproductions
Sculpture Reproductions Fine Art Puzzles

 

Find out how and why you should buy your
oil painting reproductions from Fine Art Touch.

The Pietà by Michelangelo, | A Study of Redemption Through Suffering

The Pieta by Michelangelo
The Pietà
Michelangelo Buonarroti
1499, marble, height 174 cm,
width at the base 195 cm
Basilica di San Pietro, Vatican

Click here to buy
our fine art reproductions

The Pieta by Michelangelo is a study in redemption through suffering, a common theme in Italian Renaissance art. The word 'pieta' means pity and the viewer of The Pieta by Michelangelo is invited to join in the sorrow of the Virgin as she mourns her dead son. In 1498 Michelangelo was 22 years old by the time he contracted with a French cardinal to create a pieta for St. Peter's Basilica which he finished around 1499.

The youthful Virgin and the body of Christ which she supports on her lap are convincingly modelled by Michelangelo in The Pieta, known to have had a strong interest in anatomy. The Pieta by Michelangelo, a work of the High Renaissance, was criticized by his detractors who thought the Virgin appeared too young.

Neither does Michelangelo depict Christ in the manner which one might expect of one recently crucified in The Pieta, but relatively unscathed by the ordeal of his traumatic manner of death. The Pieta by Michelangelo shows a Virgin, whose calm, serene dignity in life is echoed by the same qualities in the face of Christ, intended to elicit empathy from the viewer.

The Pieta by Michelangelo is signed by the artist on a sash across the chest of the Virgin. Michelangelo is reported to have overheard a discussion by Vatican visitors crediting The Pieta to the hand of another artist. After dark, he secretly entered the Vatican and carved his signature into the Virgin's sash with the words: "Angelus Bonarotus Florentinus Faciebat" or "This was made by Florentine Michelangelo Buonarroti."

Brenda Harness, Art Historian

Search Query We accept Paypal

Welcome !


 We respect your privacy and  will never sell your personal information.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

Buy great
art books
at Amazon!