Michelangelo Sculptures

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

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.

• 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.

Michelangelo's Pitti Madonna is a marble relief, 33-1/2inches tall, that hangs in the Bargello in Florence

Pitti Madonna

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.

• 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

The Medici Madonna by Michelangelo is 7 feet 5-1/2inches tall and stands in the Medici Chapel ofSan Lorenzo in Florence.

Medici Madonna

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.

The beautiful Bruges Madonna by Michelangelo(4 feet 2-1/2 inches tall) is at Notre-Dame in Bruges

Bruges Madonna

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.

• 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.

Taddei Madonna by Michelangelo

Michelangelo's Taddei Madonna hangs in the RoyalAcademy of Fine Arts in London and measures

46-1/4 inches tall.

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.

1540Marble, height 95 cm

Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

Brutus

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.

Michelangelo's David, heroic in form and stature at14 feet 3 inches tall (excluding the base) presidesover the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence.

David

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.

• 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.