Michelangelo's Pieta Essay

The Pieta was commissioned by French cardinal Jean Bilheres de Lagraulus, the scene of the Pieta depicts a draped Virgin Mary with the dead body of Christ resting in her arms after the crucifixion, death, and removal from the cross. This was one of the key events in Mary’s life, known as the Seven Sorrows of Mary, which were the subject of Catholic devotional prayers. Michelangelo’s Pieta differed largely from other portrayals of this scene, having created the facial expressions and bodily form of Mary and Jesus in order for the focus of the sculpture to be on the triumph of Christ’s atonement, rather than the despair of his death. Consequently, the Christ in this sculpture contrasts all other representations by not being a symbol of death or sorrow, but of hope for mankind, through sacrifice. …show more content…
This structure is often recognised as a symbol of the Holy Trinity. The stature widens progressively down the drapery of Mary’s dress, to the base of the sculpture, the rock of Golgotha. When placed under further scrutiny the two figures proportions are not clearly not natural in relation to one another. Although their heads are in proportion, the Virgin Mary’s body is much larger than her son’s. These disproportionate figures were necessary for Michelangelo to portray Mary’s graceful cradle-like hold of Christ, in a natural configuration. Michelangelo emphasised his enlargement of Mary, through an amassment of the garments on her lap into a sea of folded drapery. While this detail of the folds in the cloth served a practical purpose, it also allowed Michelangelo to display his skills when working with marble, for after his work was complete, the marble looked less like stone and more lie actual cloth due to its multiplicity of natural-looking folds, curves and deep