2. Cararra, Italy. Michelangelo's choice
of marble block was key to
his sculptural process. He spent
months in the quarry at Cararra
to find the perfect stone for a
subject, often to the detriment of
the
project itself. See more
pictures of works by Michelangelo.
Michelangelo Sculptures
3. Michelangelo Sculptures
• Michelangelo once wrote that a true and pure work of
sculpture -- by definition, one that is cut, not cast or
modeled -- should retain so much of the original form of
the stone block and should so avoid projections and
separation of parts that it would roll downhill of its own
weight. These words reflect Michelangelo's love of
quarried marble and his reverence for the very stone that
lies at the heart of his chosen art form of sculpture.
• Michelangelo sought to prove that devotion to the integrity
of the stone block is the foundation upon which great
sculpture is created. The artist's obsessive process of
selecting marble for his projects drove him year after year
to the town of Cararra, where quarries that date back to
Roman times are legendary for their pure white marble
block.
4. • Perhaps the artist's passion for the untouched stone is most clearly
understood in his approach to the art of sculpting. In a letter from
1549, Michelangelo defined sculpture as the art of "taking away"
not that of "adding on" (the process of modeling in clay), which he
deemed akin to painting. Fortunately for historians, his many
unfinished statues clearly show this groundbreaking process of
taking away, or carving, as he labored to free the figure born in his
mind from the confines of the marble block.
The Renaissance had opened people's minds to the secular
influences of politics, literature, philosophy, and science, but
Michelangelo's unyielding faith in God remained his main source of
inspiration and served as the primary motivation for his greatest
works. Michelangelo was a sculptor apart, a lover of stone and a
believer in life everlasting.
Both these passions -- for the material beauty of marble and for the
spiritual life -- infuse his greatest works. Follow the links below to
see detailed images of Michelangelo's sculptures.
5. Michelangelo's Pitti Madonna is a marble
relief, 33-1/2
inches tall, that hangs in the Bargello in
Florence
Pitti Madonna
6. Pitti Madonna by Michelangelo
•
Unlike the delicacy of the Bruges Madonna or the bold,
open composition of the Taddei Madonna, the figures
in Michelangelo's Pitti Madonna (c. 1504) reflect the
majesty and sculptural grandeur adopted by
Michelangelo while he was developing plans for the
tomb of Julius II. Here in the Pitti Madonna, created
around 1504, the figures of Madonna and Child
emerge from the stone with forceful gravity. The self-
contained composition further accentuates the sober
grace and dignity of the Madonna, who is the focus of
the relief.
7. • Note the serene and smiling face of the Pitti
Madonna's Christ Child in contrast to the prophetic
and watchful Mary. It has been suggested that the
pose and countenance of the child recalls that of genii,
ancient funeral figures from Roman mythology. This
accords with the overall effect of the Pitti Madonna,
which, despite the apparently playful attitude of the
child, is one of sobering reality.
Michelangelo started planning the tomb of Julius II in
1505, shortly after the period in which he was working
on the Pitti Madonna. See the next section of this
article for more on the tomb
8.
9. The Medici Madonna by Michelangelo is 7
feet 5-1/2
inches tall and stands in the Medici Chapel of
San Lorenzo in Florence.
Medici Madonna
10. Medici Madonna by Michelangelo
• Placed directly in the gaze of the two dukes on the tombs
of Giuliano de' Medici and Lorenzo de' Medici, the Medici
Madonna (1524 - 1534) is another impressive adaptation of
one of Michelangelo's favorite subjects, the nursing Virgin.
The impression of movement in the Medici Madonna is
exceptional; the Child is shown suspended in the act of
fretfully searching his mother's breast for comfort. In her
pose, the Virgin of the Medici Madonna is physically
protective of the child, yet her expression is spiritually
remote, as if sobered by the prospect of her child's future
suffering.
• Just as Michelangelo continued to return to the theme of
the Virgin and Child as in the Medici Madonna, so he
continued to explore the theme of the pietà. See the next
section in this article for an example.
11.
12. The beautiful Bruges Madonna by
Michelangelo
(4 feet 2-1/2 inches tall) is at Notre-
Dame in Bruges
Bruges Madonna
13. Bruges Madonna by Michelangelo
• This Madonna and Child, which Michelangelo created around
1504, is known as the Bruges Madonna because it was sold to a
Flemish wool merchant who took it to Bruges. It is more compact,
simpler, and yet somehow grander than Michelangelo's earlier
Pietà. Remarkable for the gravity and beauty found in the chubby
face of the Christ Child, the Bruges Madonna grouping seems
small yet is comprised of life-size figures. It is evident that the
child seen here was from the same model as that of the
Pitti Madonna and that the two works are closely related in
composition.
The bowed head of Mary in the Bruges Madonna, with its broad,
expressive forehead, is derived from Michelangelo's earlier Pietà
and conveys a stirring sense of deep and poignant acceptance.
Michelangelo often used this somber tone when portraying the
Madonna and Child to suggest Christ's later passion and
death.Michelangelo created another Madonna and Child around
the same time as he created the Bruges Madonna. See the next
section of this article for information on the Taddei Madonna.
14. • The Madonna of Bruges is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo, of Mary with the
infant Jesus.
• Michelangelo's depiction of the Madonna and Child differs significantly from
earlier representations of the same subject, which tended to feature a pious Virgin
smiling down on an infant held in her arms. Instead, Jesus stands upright, almost
unsupported, only loosely restrained by Mary's left hand, and appears to be about
to step away from his mother and into the world. Meanwhile, Mary does not cling
to her son or even look at him, but gazes down and away, as if she knows already
what is to be her son's fate. It is believed the work was originally intended for an
altar piece. If this is so, then it would have been displayed facing slightly to the
right and looking down.
• Madonna and Child shares certain similarities with Michelangelo's Pietà, which
was completed shortly before, mainly, the chiaroscuro pattern and the movement
of the drapery. The long, oval face of Mary is also reminiscent of the Pietà.
• The work is also notable in that it was the only sculpture by Michelangelo to leave
Italy during his lifetime. It was bought by Giovanni and Alessandro Moscheroni
(Mouscron), from a family of wealthy cloth merchants in Bruges, then one of the
leading commercial cities in Europe. The sculpture was sold for 4,000 florin.
• The sculpture was removed twice from Belgium after its initial arrival. The first was
in 1794, after French Revolutionaries had conquered the Austrian Netherlands;
the citizens of Bruges were ordered to ship it and several other valuable works of
art to Paris. It was returned after Napoleon's defeat. The second removal was in
1944 with the retreat of German soldiers, who smuggled the sculpture to Germany
enveloped in mattresses in a Red Cross lorry.[1]
It was found two years later and
again returned. It now sits in the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Belgium.
• After the attack on Michelangelo's Pietà in 1972 the sculpture was placed behind
bullet proof glass, and the public can only view it from 15 feet away.
15.
16. Taddei Madonna by Michelangelo
Michelangelo's Taddei Madonna hangs in the Royal
Academy of Fine Arts in London and measures
46-1/4 inches tall.
17. Taddei Madonna by Michelangelo
• Michelangelo's Taddei Madonna was so named because it was originally
blocked out for Francesco Taddei in around 1504. However, Michelangelo
never completed it. Even in its unfinished state, the Taddei Madonna
shows a more dynamic composition than the Bruges Madonna. Plus, the
Taddei Madonna illustrates the pro-gressive stages of Michelangelo's
working procedure and his masterful use of different types of chisels.
In the Taddei Madonna, the rough foundation work and the hair of the
Child and the Baptist were created using a cylindrical chisel that was also
used as a drill to carve out the major elements of the piece. The figure of
the Baptist is further completed by the use of a coarse, two-toothed
chisel. Finally, the Virgin and body of the Christ Child are brought nearly to
completion, except for the filing and polishing, through the use of a three-
toothed chisel, a tool that, in the masterful hands of Michelangelo, could
breathe life into the surface of cold stone.
• The face of Mary, the most finished part of the Taddei Madonna, serves
as the passionate heart of the composition, infusing the work with deep
feeling and serene gravity.
• At the same time that Michelangelo was working on the Taddei Madonna,
he was also working on one of his greatest masterpieces. Learn about the
David in the next section of this article.
19. Brutus
• This is Michelangelo's last work of primarily political
significance. The bust of was fashioned for Cardinal
Niccolo Ridolfi, who, in 1530, had fled Florence for
Rome like many other Florentines; although
Michelangelo might well have been thinking of
Lorenzino Medici, the well-known "Modern Brutus"
who had killed Duke Alessandro de' Medici in 1537,
this is clearly an idealized portrait of the patron. In the
head, which shows strength of will in the way it is
turned to the right, a cold tranquillity and great energy
blend fascinatingly with hatred, wrath and bitter
contempt.
20.
21. Michelangelo's David, heroic in
form and stature at
14 feet 3 inches tall (excluding
the base) presides
over the Galleria
dell'Accademia in Florence.
David
22. David by Michelangelo
Michelangelo's David was commissioned in 1501 by the wealthy
Florence City Council. Noted for its immense size, over fourteen
feet tall, the importance of David can only be fully appreciated
when one considers the historical circumstances of its creation.
In 1501, the Florentine Republic was asserting its newly found
independence from Medici rule. Under constant threat from
aggressors, Michelangelo accepted the commission in 1501 to
create a gigantic model of heroic youth for one of the buttresses of
the Duomo, or cathedral, a structure of enormous civic and spiritual
significance to the city of Florence.
The enormous marble block given to Michelangelo for the task had
been abandoned forty years prior by sculptor Agostino di Duccio
and was badly damaged by exposure. Once the David was
completed, there was reluctance to relegate such a magnificent
work to a high spot on the cathedral. It was eventually decided that
the David should stand in front of the Palazzo Vecchio, as a symbol
of the new republic.
23. • It was Michelangelo's intention that the finished David would serve as
more than just a fierce protector of the city. While the figure is
menacing, there is no indication that he is fueled by aggression. There
exists no tension in his considerable arms or legs. Indeed, the political
symbolism of the work conveys a warning to fellow Florentines that
"Whoever governed Florence should govern justly and defend it
bravely...eyes watchful...." The David embodies the Renaissance
sensibility of force tempered by intellect.
• Michelangelo's David is young but far from immature, and
Michelangelo endows the figure with the knotted muscles of an
athlete, a massive rib cage, and a confident stance. The huge scale of
the sculpture contributes to the figure's threatening and authoritative
presence as the young hero is shown keeping watch over the city.
• Michelangelo was careful to temper the athletic warrior with spiritual
attributes fitting a young biblical hero. As he carries the stone loosely
in his right hand and the sling lies over his left shoulder, David
expresses in his quiet stance the superiority of inner strength over
brute force.
• Not all of Michelangelo's sculptures continued to be as large or as
ambitious as the David. See the next section in this article for
information on the Pitti Madonna.
