“Pietà” Statue by Michelangelo – Analysis of the “Pietà” Sculpture

The Pietà statue by Michelangelo Buonarroti is one of the most famous religious sculptures of the Italian Renaissance currently housed at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. This special work is the only artwork by Michelangelo to ever be signed and is incredibly iconic in its display of classical beauty and naturalism. This article will provide you with an in-depth exploration of this famous statue and what makes it so special.

Sculptor of the Pietà Statue: Michelangelo Buonarroti

The Vatican’s Pietà statue was sculpted between 1498 and 1499 by High Renaissance artist, Michelangelo Buonarotti. Michelangelo Buonarotti, also known as Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, was born in the Republic of Florence and is known as Western art history’s best sculptor.

Scholars have also described the Pietà sculptor as one of the most successful artists of his era, while being the most documented artist in history alongside Leonardo da Vinci.

Unfinished portrait of Michelangelo Buonarroti (c. 1545) by Daniele da Volterra, located in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, United States; Attributed to Daniele da Volterra, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

There is no doubt that Michelangelo was an incredibly talented Renaissance man since he produced two of his best sculptures, Pietà and David (1501-1504) well before he turned 30. What makes this sculpture so important is that it contributed to the launch of Buonarotti’s fame during a period when the artist was still finding his feet after the exile of the Medici family in 1494. Buonarotti’s first sculpture in Rome was rejected by Cardinal Raffaele Riario in 1496.

After one year of searching for employment in a new city, Michelangelo landed a commission for the iconic Vatican Pietà.

The Pietà Statue (1498 – 1499)

The Pietà statue by Michelangelo was commissioned by the Cardinal, Jean de Bilhères de Lagraulas who was also the ambassador of the Holy See on behalf of the French monarchy. Understanding the political nature of the Cardinal is considered important to understanding the commission of the Pietà statue.

In 1495, the French Cardinal received the task of enlisting papal support for the marriage of the King to Anne of Brittany, who was the heiress to the Kingdom of Naples. The Cardinal failed the assignment, which resulted in the invasion of Naples by Charles VIII.

The tension between Italy and France was at its peak between 1494 and 1498 but with the new monarch in place, Louis XII aimed to fix the relationship with the Holy See by attempting to organize the marriage of the son of Pope Alexander VI, Cesare Borgia with a noblewoman named Charlotte d’Albret. The Cardinal who commissioned Pietà wished to further contribute to mending this relationship by providing a sculpture carved by an Italian artist, made for a French space, within the Italian basilica with a French theme yet carved using Italian marble.

Pietà (1498 – 1499) by Michelangelo, located in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City; Michelangelo, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The specifications were unique indeed but also crucial to proving the political acceptance of peace. Michelangelo’s Pietà was set up to function as a symbol of the French presence in Rome and was to be exhibited to the public during the 1500 jubilee for both the Christians and French pilgrims to see. The main component of the Vatican Pietà was its location, which was set to be sculpted for the Chapel of Santa Petronilla.

This area was an extension of the old St. Peter’s Basilica that was attached to the south end of the transept with a circular space on the East.

The space was two chapels with six smaller chapels inside. The space was also heavily connected to the French crown since the 700s and was even granted “generous donations” from King Louis XI as he prayed for the recovery of his ill son. The church was recognized for its allegiance to the papacy and was a symbol of the “privileged filiation” of the French monarchy. Unfortunately, the Vatican Pietà also became a monument for the funeral of the Cardinal since he passed away before the sculpture was finished, at age 70.

The Pietà Theme

The theme of Michelangelo’s statue was Pietà, which means pity and piety (Latin) and referenced the aftermath of the crucifixion of the venerated biblical figure, Jesus Christ. The focus of the statue is based on both the virgin Mary and Jesus and is centered on Mary holding Jesus’ corpse. The imagery surrounding the Pietà emerged in Germany and later spread to France around the Middle Ages (before the Renaissance).

Sculptors from Germany coined the term Vesperbild, meaning “image of the vespers” to depict figures like Mary and Christ.

The Deposition (from 1545 until 1555) by Michelangelo, located in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy; © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons

During this period, the image of the Madonna was extremely popular and almost worshiped. Other Italian versions of the scene included St. John holding Jesus’ head with Mary holding his feet to reduce the awkwardness of having to depict a large man in his thirties being held by a dainty Mary (Madonna).

In Michelangelo’s Pietà, one can observe that he somewhat successfully managed to achieve this composition in sculpture while referencing an older version of Mary as the “lone virgin” cradling her son in her lap while seated in the Madonna position.

Buonarotti also positioned Jesus as he would a baby, which evokes a very human and motherly moment between mother and child, as opposed to savior and Madonna. He also managed to sculpt the piece with plenty of emotion, showcasing the sadness associated with losing a child, which evokes compassion in the viewer for Mary’s position. Thus, pity was created. The pity also becomes piety with the image of sadness accompanied by the sacrifice that Christ has just made.

Structure of the Pietà Statue

The Pietà statue by Michelangelo was sculpted in a pyramidal format with the vertex meeting at the top with Mary’s head. As your eye travels down toward the base, the statue widens and forms a triangular framework. The base of the statue is made up of the Golgotha rock and appears widened by the drapery on Mary’s garment.

The characters were not in proportion and given the difficult task of fitting an adult man in the arms of a petite woman was difficult. Mary’s face appears youthful and is a unique feature compared to other depictions of Mary at the time.

Her youthfulness alludes to her incorruptible nature and pure spirit. Most of her body is hidden by an emphasis on her clothing and the marks showing Jesus’ crucifixion have been reduced to tiny nail-sized markings. Buonarotti also sculpted Jesus’ face without his expression of the Passion (the final moment of Christ’s life) since he intended for the statue to express the religious idea of abandonment alongside the “serene face” of Jesus and lastly, the communion of God and mankind through Jesus’ sacrifice.

Photograph of Michelangelo’s Pietà; Rijksmuseum, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

It is believed that Michelangelo used a drill to execute the sculpture for speed and polishing purposes. His mastery over the pyramidal structure of the statue is a skill to be admired as it beautifully renders one of the most difficult biblical scenes in history. It has also been theorized that Michelangelo drew inspiration from Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (1308 – 1320) and that he even traveled to Bologna and paid for his hospitality by reciting verses from the poem.

Michelangelo completed the statue when he was only 24 years old.

Pietà in New York

In 1964, the iconic statue, Pietà, was sent to New York for exhibition at the World Fair, which garnered around 51 million people within 18 months. The sculpture was shipped in a wooden crate secured to the deck of the Cristoforo Colombo liner and prepared with a thick layer of cushioning in the event of an accident.

During this exhibition, the popular sculpture was apparently “carelessly displayed” and set up in an isolated pavilion behind a case of bulletproof glass.

A close-up of Michelangelo’s Pietà; Michelangelo, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It was clear that the aim of including the sculpture in the fair was for glorifying the image of Mary and Christ as opposed to the magnitude of the actual artwork. This was a common aspect of most exhibitions in New York at the time since it coincided with the Cold War and commercialization was at its all-time high.

The exhibition was criticized by art critics for being incredibly shallow.

Attack on the Pietà

The Vatican had installed a protective bulletproof casing around the sculpture after it was attacked by a passionate yet deluded man claiming to be Jesus. On 21 May 1971, Laszlo Toth ran towards the statue and hit Pietà with a hammer 15 times before being dragged off the statue and detained. The motive behind the attack was unknown but unfortunately, parts of the statue were damaged leaving Mary’s left arm broken and parts of her eyelids and nose chipped.

Luckily, the statue underwent a restoration project to repair the 100 pieces of marble that had fallen off.

A detailed view of the statue in the Vatican with a damaged hand, nose, and eye in May 1972; Fonte Umberto Baldini, Michelangelo scultore, Rizzoli, Milano 1973 Data 1972 Autore Michelangelo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Interesting Facts About the Pietà Statue

The famous Pietà statue initially had no signature and was first mistaken for the work of another artist by the name of Il Gobbo and this is the reason why Buonarotti decided to include his name on the sculpture. Following the trail of markings, the sculpture is said to have been signed twice after restorers discovered that there was previously an “M” engraved on Mary’s left palm, which could have stood for Michelangelo or Mary.

The most difficult section of the restoration efforts for Mary after the attack was on her eyelid, which took restorers approximately 20 attempts before getting it right.

Pietà (1498 – 1499) by Michelangelo, located in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City; Michelangelo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

In addition to the restoration project, it took several months for the specialists to identify and sort the broken pieces of Mary’s arm, with the whole project taking up to 10 months to complete. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and about another 14th-century figurine, the museum explained that Jesus’ smaller scale may be a reflection of the beliefs of German mystics who felt that the Virgin Mary, while taken by her agony over her son’s death, possibly imagined that she was holding him as a baby in her arms again.

Michelangelo’s Terracotta Pietà (1473 – 1496)

A decade-long investigation into the sculpture resulted in the discovery of a small terracotta model of the marble Pietà, which was also found to be the real deal, made by Michelangelo and became the most talked-about Renaissance terracotta sculpture to date.

The terracotta figure surfaced 20 years ago after being acquired by an antiquarian who assumed the sculpture was worthless. The antiquarian stored the object in a box and sold it to a collector for peanuts.

The collector followed his intuition and came into contact with Roy Doliner, an art historian and Italian Renaissance specialist who helped investigate the likelihood of the sculpture being an authentic Michelangelo work. The evidence pointed to multiple accounts of the existence of a terracotta model made by Buonarotti between the 16th and 17th centuries.

The terracotta sculpture was originally painted with nine layers of vivid paint that, after many years, had been stripped away to reveal the terracotta base.

The analysis of the statue found that the terracotta consisted of an unusual clay mixture and dolomite, a mineral is taken from the Apuan Alps of Tuscany and also a place where Buonarotti obtained his marble. Further analysis results show that the model was created between 1473 and 1496 and thus solidifies the fact that this was the true maquette of the marble Pietà we see today.

Michelangelo’s Pietà statue is one of the most iconic and visited sculptures of the Vatican City. Appreciated by many, this sculpture is one of the most unique marble statues from the High Renaissance.

Take a look at our Pietà statue webstory here!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who Sculpted the Pietà Sculpture?

The Pietà sculptor was Michelangelo Buonarroti.

What Does the Pietà Sculpture Represent?

The Pietà sculpture (1498 – 1499) represents the biblical image of Mary cradling Jesus Christ’s body after his crucifixion.

How Many Pietà Statues Did Michelangelo Make?

Michelangelo made a total of four Pietà statues in his lifetime; the first being the terracotta model (1473 – 1496), followed by the Vatican City Pietà (1498 – 1499), the Rondanini Pietà (1552 – 1564), and the Florentine Pietà, known as The Deposition (1547 – 1555), which Buonarotti tried to destroy.

Jordan Anthony( Content Editor, Art Writer, Photographer )

Jordan Anthony is a Cape Town-based film photographer, curator, and arts writer. She holds a Bachelor of Art in Fine Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, where she explored themes like healing, identity, dreams, and intuitive creation in her Contemporary art practice. Jordan has collaborated with various local art institutions, including the KZNSA Gallery in Durban, the Turbine Art Fair, and the Wits Art Museum. Her photography focuses on abstract color manipulations, portraiture, candid shots, and urban landscapes. She’s intrigued by philosophy, memory, and esotericism, drawing inspiration from Surrealism, Fluxus, and ancient civilizations, as well as childhood influences and found objects. Jordan is working for artfilemagazine since 2022 and writes blog posts about art history and photography.

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