Blog # 4 Pieta By Michelangelo

When Michelangelo made his first Pieta, he was in his early twenties. This life-size marble sculpture depicted Virgin Mary as a beautiful young woman, almost as young as her son. Mary is serene and contemplative, while Jesus seems in peaceful sleep.
I was puzzled when I first came upon Michelangelo's interpretation of Pieta. It conveys a sense of tranquility instead of grievance. I am not sure if Michelangelo intended to create a heavenly atmosphere.

Florentine Pieta
Fifty years passed when Micholangelo worked on this theme again. He was in his seventies now. Jesus looks like completely lifeless so they are struggling to support his body. From my own experience on medical care, I know human bodies will become much heavier when we are unconscious. Michelangelo has greatly changed his style. His Pieta is no longer an ideal form, but reveals the sense of death.


Michelangelo was eighty years old when he began
working on his last two Pieta. He worked on them intermittently for the follwoing ten years. He seems to be getting further away from his youthful work. He no longer demonstrated his perfect and mastery technique.
He left them rough and unfinished, intentionally. The


blocks of marble speak for themselves. He did not persue the goal of perfection , but the essence of art and life. His figures of the last Pieta seemed to merge together, which might revealed his ultimate yearning for the destination of life.