The Pietà

Michelangelo’s Pietà is a celebrated marble sculpture carved from Carrara marble, depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the lifeless body of Jesus Christ after the Crucifixion. The sculpture is currently housed in the first chapel on the right upon entering St. Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo completed this masterpiece when he was only 23 years old, having been commissioned by the French cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas.

The expresses the profound compassion and sorrow of the Virgin Mary in the face of Christ’s death. It is also the only work that Michelangelo ever signed. His name is carved on a band running across the Virgin’s chest, part of the sash she wears.

On May 21, 1972, a Hungarian-born Australian geologist named Laszlo Toth breached the Basilica’s security and repeatedly struck the statue with a geological hammer. His attack broke the Virgin Mary’s left arm, severely damaged her face, shattered her nose, and chipped her left eyelid.

ANALYSIS OF THE PIETÀ: DIMENSIONS, FORM, AND INSPIRATION

The Pietà is one of Michelangelo’s most famous works and is widely regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance. The sculpture portrays the Virgin Mary holding the body of Christ, a subject that was especially popular in Northern European art of the late 15th century.

The Vatican Pietà measures 174 cm in height, 195 cm in width, and only 69 cm in depth. This relatively shallow depth suggests that the sculpture may originally have been intended for placement within a wall niche.

The composition follows a pyramidal structure. Although commissioned as a life-sized sculpture, close observation reveals that Christ’s body is only about half the size of the Virgin Mary’s. This disproportion allows Mary to support her son’s body with ease and symbolically recalls Christ’s infancy. The difference in scale is skillfully concealed beneath the heavy folds of Mary’s drapery.

The marble surface of the sculpture is exceptionally luminous. It is said that Michelangelo spent as much time polishing the marble as he did carving it. He may have intended this radiant finish to contrast with the somber darkness of the Chapel of Saint Petronilla, where the sculpture was originally placed.

According to Giorgio Vasari , after the sculpture had been installed, Michelangelo overheard someone remark (or perhaps pretended to ask a visitor) that the work had been created by Cristoforo Solari . Disturbed by this misattribution, Michelangelo carved the inscription

“MICHAELA[N]GELUS BONAROTUS FLORENTIN[US] FACIEBA[T]”

(“Michelangelo Buonarroti of Florence made this”)

onto the sash running across the Virgin Mary’s chest. This style of signature echoed the practice of ancient Greek sculptors such as Polykleitos and Apelles.

Vasari further recounts that Michelangelo later regretted signing the work, believing that this youthful impulsiveness had compromised the sculpture’s pure and solemn beauty. He vowed never again to sign another artwork. Indeed, the Pietà remains the first and only sculpture ever signed by Michelangelo.