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Jaihan Utailawon

Mrs. Milfeld

English II pre-AP G block

14 February 2018

“Pietà”: The Ultimate Blend of Human and Divine

Although it is seemingly impossible for something to be considered both human and

divine, the “Pietà” managed to fuse the two contrasting natures together perfectly. Pietà is a

theme within Christian art which refers to the representation of the Virgin Mary holding the dead

body of Jesus Christ either in her arms or on her lap. This theme, which seemingly originated in

Germany, became widely popular in northwestern continental Europe in the fourteenth and

fifteenth centuries, especially in France and the Low Countries (Dunkelman 118). Even though

the theme of the Pietà–for the most part–remained Franco-German, it entered into Italian culture

and became the subject matter for many Renaissance art masters (“Pietà”). One such master was

Michelangelo Buonarotti, an Italian Renaissance artist and an expert in sculpting, painting,

architecture, and poetry; ever since his time, he was regarded as one of the greatest artists who

ever lived (“Michelangelo”). At the young age of twenty-four, he recreated the theme in his

“Pietà,” a marble sculpture, in 1499, which now sits in the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome (“Pietà”).

Michelangelo’s “Pietà” became a blend of the Renaissance humanism ideology and the revived

classical idealism due to his signature emphasis on physical perfection and the inspiration he

attained during his years in Bologna.

Understanding the humanistic philosophy behind the “Pietà” is key to comprehending the

various elements Michelangelo had placed within this masterpiece. During the Post-Classical

Era, before the Renaissance began, Christian art had primarily focused only on the divine nature
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of Christ; this circumstance then prompted the Christians to “[hunger] to know, to feel, and to

see” Christ’s human nature (Ziegler 29). The Pietà theme certainly satisfied their craving with its

humanist portrayal of both the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ. Within the Pietà theme, the Virgin

Mary is portrayed not as the holy mother of God but more as a grieving mother who suffers from

the loss of her son, and Jesus Christ, too, is depicted as a mortal man, son of a human mother,

and sufferer of death, rather than as the divine Son of God (Ziegler 29). This humanist view also

holds true within Michelangelo’s “Pieta” as stated by Tom McGrath during his visit to Saint

Peter’s Basilica when he was “drawn to the quiet Pietà…[whose] drama came…from the most

human situation it depicts” (50). Within the dissection of the humanist values, it becomes clearer

that Michelangelo’s “Pietà” holds more ideologies behind it than just humanism.

Since the Pietà theme is commonly Franco-German, frequently, art historians would

claim that Michelangelo’s inspiration and ideas for his “Pietà” came from Northern European

depictions of the theme. However, this placement of Michelangelo’s “Pietà” within the same

realm as the Northern European Pietàs is flawed. Although it is certainly true that, like

Michelangelo’s “Pietà,” the portrayals of the theme in Northwestern Europe also has a “seated

Virgin [solely holding] her dead adult son in her lap,” it is also an undeniable truth that

Michelangelo’s interpretation of the Pietà theme differs significantly from the others. Unlike the

Pietàs of Northwestern Europe, Michelangelo’s “Pietà” veered radically away from the cliché

“emotionalism” and instead presents “serenity” within the figure (Ziegler 33). This heterogeneity

between the Pietàs suggests that the ideals behind the crafting of the Northwestern

representations and Michelangelo’s are in contrast; while the earlier Pietà was only created with

the humanist values in mind, Michelangelo has also incorporated into his “Pietà” his expertise of

Renaissance classicism alongside the humanist image. Due to the peaceful expression of the
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Virgin Mary, many scholars have claimed that Michelangelo had “classicized and idealized the

otherwise tragic and emotive scene” (Ziegler 33). Because of this inclusion of classicism, not

only is the “Pietà” no longer a typical Franco-German Pietà, it also identified distinctly as a

Michelangelo.

The artistic elements within Michelangelo’s art that serve as his signature are his

unparalleled emphasis and expertise on the ideal human form. As Dickerson, a college librarian

and writer with a Master of Science degree in Art History, has stated, most of Michelangelo’s

works stress on the “physical perfection” of an individual, and often they include large figures to

help enhance the presentation of his vision of idealism (114). Her report holds true with the

“Pietà” for it was both a large marble sculpture and a perfect embodiment of Renaissance realism

and classicism. The most apparent aspect of the “Pietà” is its realistic proportions of the human

figures and the extremely lifelike details of the human form; the facial features, muscles, and

veins of both the Virgin Mary and Jesus appear to be authentic and real as if actual human beings

have been frozen into a sculpture. Although some might argue that the Virgin Mary looks

inappropriately young for her age in comparison to her son, Michelangelo explained–as

disclosed by Condivi–that the Virgin’s “youthful appearance” reflects her “moral purity [that

ensured her] physical perfection” (Lavin 285). Furthermore, it was revealed by Michelangelo

that Christ’s appearance was portrayed according to his age to display his human nature while

implying that the Son of God had “submitted [himself] to all that an ordinary man undergoes,

except sin” (Condivi 24f). The Virgin’s youth and Christ’s age showcase wonderfully the blend

of the Renaissance classicist ideals of physical perfection and the Renaissance humanist

philosophy of worldly mortality. It was these components within Michelangelo’s “Pietà” that set

it apart from the other Pietà representations and identify it as a genuine Michelangelo.
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Because Michelangelo’s “Pietà” is very distinct from the Franco-German Pietàs, it begs a

question: where and how, then, did Michelangelo come across the inspiration to create such a

masterpiece? The search for Michelangelo’s source of inspiration for his “Pietà” would

ultimately lead to the city of Bologna where Michelangelo had found refuge in 1494 to 1495, just

three years before he was commissioned to work on his “Pietà” in Rome (Dunkelman 108).

Because of this short gap of time, it is possible that the “memory of his year in Bologna would

have still been relatively fresh” to the young Michelangelo (Dunkelman 118). The two artistic

pieces in Bologna that possibly had the most impact to Michelangelo’s “Pietà” are the terracotta

Lamentation groups of Niccoló dell’Arca and Vincenzo Onofri which was installed just before

Michelangelo arrived at the city (Dunkelman 127). Surely, Michelangelo at age nineteen or

twenty could not have missed these pieces; at that young age, he must have been “open to new

ideas” and assuredly found the Lamentation groups to be “exotic and fascinating” (Dunkelman

127, 130). It is evident that Michelangelo had incorporated parts of Lamentation groups into his

“Pietà” since similarities between them are quite obvious. Akin to Michelangelo’s “Pietà,” the

Lamentation groups both “present the dead savior directly to the viewer, as the focus of profound

grief,” and the Virgin Mary, in all the works, were placed “centrally behind” the dead body of

Christ (Dunkelman 130-132). Furthermore, Christ’s body of the Bolognese pieces and the

“Pietà” were both formed to be “long and lean, thinner that [the] classical norm” that a typical

Renaissance piece might present (Dunkelman 132). Lastly, one other obvious similarity the

“Pietà” share with Niccoló dell’Arca’s group; that is the “boldly placed signature…[which]

utilizes some of the same humanist script techniques, such as letters nested within each other”

(Dunkelman 132). Niccoló dell’Arca placed his on the “scroll right by the head of Christ” and

Michelangelo has his placed on the strap on the Virgin’s chest (Dunkelman 132). Because of
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these similar elements shared between all the pieces, it is clear that Michelangelo was inspired

by these Lamentation groups and used some of their features into his “Pietà”.

Due to the cultural blend between Franco-German and Bolognese behind it and

Michelangelo’s own style, the “Pietà” became a unique masterpiece that communicates distinctly

both the humanist and classicist ideals of the Renaissance. The Franco-German aspect provides

the “Pietà” its humanist ideology, Michelangelo’s own emphasis on the physical perfection of

the figure gives the sculpture its classicist idealism, and the Bolognese inspiration behind the

piece ultimately connects the two contrasting themes together into the “Pietà’s” final form. As

Dunkelman summarized it, “Michelangelo took the expressive… [and humanist] version of the

Virgin with her dead son [from the Northwestern Europeans] …and turned it, purely by the force

of his own inner vision [and inspiration from Bologna], into a standard bearer of calm, dignified

classicism” (118). The “Pietà,” which was originally inspired from the humanist interpretation of

a biblical event, was perfected by Michelangelo, who heightened the humanist aspect to its apex

with the utterly realistic human forms while incorporating also distinctly divine characteristics

with his use of classicism to create the ideal form of the Virgin Mary; thus, the “Pietà” not only

impossibly mix two contrasting natures together, but it showcased the beauty and perfection of

the blend between human and divine at its ultimate.

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Works Cited

Condivi, Ascanio. The Life of Michelangelo. Translated by Alick Sedgwick Wohl, Penn State

University Press, 1999.

Dickerson, Madelynn. The Handy Art History Answer Book. Visible Ink Press, 2013.

Dunkelman, Martha. “What Michelangelo Learned in Bologna.” Artibus Et Historiae, vol. 35,

no. 69, 2014, pp. 107–135. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/24595735.

Lavin, Irving. “Divine Grace and the Remedy of the Imperfect. Michelangelo's Signature on the

St Peter's ‘Pietà.’” Artibus Et Historiae, vol. 34, no. 68, 2013, pp. 277–328. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/24595693.

McGrath, Tom. "Waiting for God." U.S. Catholic, vol. 66, no. 9, Sept. 2001, p. 50. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=4982050&site=ehost-live.

“Michelangelo.” Britannica, 7 Nov. 2017, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pieta-iconography.

Accessed 14 Feb. 2018.

“Pietà.” Britannica, 27 Nov. 2014, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pieta-iconography.

Accessed 30 Jan. 2018.

Ziegler, Joanna E. “Michelangelo and the Medieval Pietà: The Sculpture of Devotion or the Art

of Sculpture?” Gesta, vol. 34, no. 1, 1995, pp. 28–36. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/767122.