The Pietà Rondanini by Michelangelo

Since 1952, Milan has been the home ofthe last sculpture by Michelangelo Buonar-roti, born in Caprese, (Arezzo), in1475 anddied in Rome in 1564.The sculpture remained unfinished due tothe death of the artist, who worked on this marble block for over a decade.It depicts the Madonna standing and sup-porting the dead body of her son, Jesus, af-ter the Crucifixion. The two figures are veryelongated, almost filiform and very differ-ent from the physically strong bodies thatare typical of Michelangelo's work. Themarble block bears the signs of an earlierversion that suggested more anatomicallyrobust figures. The dramatic intensity of therelationship between mother and son, al-most fused together as one body, shouldbe considered in the light of Michelangelo'sprofound faith. The artist often dealt withthe theme of the Pietà (meaning "pity"), us-ing a variety of techniques and solutions:starting with the group located in St. Pe-ter's Basilica in the Vatican, sculpted whenMichelangelo was twenty-five years old andwas pursuing a completely different idea ofbeauty, of the idealised body of Christ lyingon a young Mary's lap. Then, at over eightyyears of age, he reduced everything downto the essential,reviving an iconographicmodel from medieval times.

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Parco Sempione

Porta del Barcho

Cortile delle Armi

(Arms Courtyard)

Porta delCarminePorta di

S. Spirito

Rivellino

Cortiledella

Rocchetta

Piazza Castello

Torre del Filarete

Corte Ducale

Sforzesco Castle

20121 MilanInformation tel. 02.88463700Ticket office tel. 02.88463703www.milanocastello.it

Public transportM1 Cairoli - M2 Cadorna/LanzaTrams 1-2-4-7-12-14-27Buses 50-57-58-61-94

Opening hours: 9:00 - 17:30Tuesday to Sunday(closed on Mondays)

The museums are closed onthe following public holidays:25 December, 1 January,1 May, Easter Monday

Admissionfor all museums in the Castle

5.00 full price3.00 concession

Guided visitAd Artem tel. 02.6596937 - 02.6597728Opera d’Artetel. 02.45487400

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Pietà Rondanini - MichelangeloMuseum

Museum of Furniture and Wooden Sculpture

Spanish Hospital SectionTemporary exhibition

Sala delle Asse decorated by Leonardo da Vinci

Museum of Ancient Art

Armoury

Museum of Applied ArtsCeramics, Sumptuary Arts and Trivulzio Tapestries

Museum of Archaeology,Prehistory and ProtohistorySection

Museum of Archaeology,Egypt Section

Picture Gallery

Museum of Musical Instruments

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Pietà RondaniniMichelangeloMuseum

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The story of the Milanese Pietà is stillshrouded in mystery to a large extent: thesculpture was found in Michelangelo's Romestudio upon his death on 18th February1564. It then vanished and only reappeareddefinitively in 1807 in the mansion of theMarchesi Rondinini (or, using its incorrectform, Rondanini) on Via del Corso. The workthus became known as: Pietà Rondanini.After several transfers of ownership follow-ing its departure from the Roman mansion,the sculpture was acquired with public fund-ing by the City of Milan in 1952. In themeantime, the style of the piece, which hadlong been overlooked and considered unim-portant to Michelangelo's body of work, be-came the subject of discussion among criticsand contemporary artists and the Pietà Ron-danini, unique in the context of sixteenthcentury sculpture, acquired a privileged po-sition in the history of art.

Since 1956, Michelangelo's Pietà had beendisplayed in a celebrated exhibition spacedesigned by the Milanese architects BBPR inthe Sala degli Scarlioni at Sforzesco Castle:a vast space filled with Lombard sculpturesfrom the Renaissance (notably those ofBambaia) that had been extensively reno-vated over the years and was not easily ac-cessible to the disabled.The City Council therefore decided to ded-icate a separate space to the sculpture byMichelangelo. This will be the old hospitalin the Castle's Cortile delle Armi (ArmsCourtyard), which housed infirmed soldiersduring the Spanish rule. In this space,where so much suffering occurred and somany prayers were offered, Michelangelo'sPietà will be exhibited in a display designedby Michele De Lucchi as of May 2015.

Decoration on the ceiling of the oldSpanish Hospitalroom whereMichelangelo'sPietà Rondanini is displayed