Who Is Michelangelo's Pieta?

The Pieta was commissioned in 1498 by Cardinal Jean de Bileres de Lagraulas as a funerary monument. Michelangelo had recently moved to Rome after the death of his mentor Lorenzo de’ Medici, and was a relatively undiscovered artist, being only in his early twenties. The Pieta’s commission gave Michelangelo widespread fame and recognition, and many scholars cite it as his finest work. (The History, 2016). The details and delicateness of the robes carved into the marble marks the work as truly remarkable, and stand out as stunningly realistic and life like. The Pieta itself is not only the name of this sculpture of Michelangelo, but the name of the religious theme depicted of the lamentation of Christ’s crucifiction by the Virgin Mary, and often
Noticeable attributes of this sculpture include the disproportionate sizing of Mary concealed by her robes. Michelangelo knew he wanted the pivotal piece of the sculpture to be the Virgin Mary, but it posed a problem to have a full grown man supported by an average sized woman. As a solution, he oversized her body and gave her a disproportionately small head to compensate and fool the eye at first glance. The flowing gown she wears is meant to disguise her true size, and is a truly brilliant display of Michelangelo’s understanding of size and proportion. Another unique attribute of the sculpture is the youth of the Virgin Mary. In the sculpture, she is displayed as she is commonly thought of around the time of Jesus’ birth, yet the scene displayed is following Jesus’ death, where he was presumably of the age of thirty-three. The reason for the youthful look of Mary is often debated among scholars, creating three principle arguments. One would be Michelangelo’s postulated claim that seeing as Mary was supposedly completely chaste, she would be better preserved from age and have a more young
A third and very interesting theory as to Mary’s youth would be derived from the belief of God as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This applies to the sculpture in that Jesus is actually portrayed not only as Mary’s son, but also her Father in a spiritual sense, hence why she is visibly portrayed more as a young girl. This more complex theory is supported by Michelangelo’s adoration of Dante’s Divine Comedy, in which the concept of the Holy Trinity is heavily present. Another fact to take into consideration is that Michelangelo’s own mother died at a very young age; not only would the mother/son connection be very important to Michelangelo, but his conception of motherhood would be more youthful and less elderly. One final attribute critical to the full appreciation of this artwork is the lack of a bloody and battered body, focusing more on Mary’s emotion and response to Jesus. Michelangelo wanted his sculpture to reflect less on death, despite portraying a scene following Jesus’