Michelangelo Gallery
The Moses (c. 1513–1515) is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb, it depicts the Biblical figure Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible used at that time. Michelangelo’s Moses was unequalled by any modern or ancient work. Seated in a serious attitude, he rests with one arm on the tablets, and with the other holds his long glossy beard, the hairs, so difficult to render in sculpture. The beautiful face, like that of a saint and mighty prince, seems as one regards it to need the veil to cover it, so splendid and shining does it appear, and so well has the artist presented it. The draperies fall in graceful folds, the muscles of the arms and bones of the hands are of such beauty and perfection, as are the legs and knees, the feet being adorned with excellent shoes, that Moses may now be called the friend of God more than ever, since God has permitted his body to be prepared for the resurrection before the others by the hand of Michelangelo." >
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >
Madonna of the Steps is the earliest known sculpture by Michelangelo, created when he was only fifteen or sixteen years old. It remained in the Buonarroti family until two years after the master’s death, when it was presented by a nephew, Leonardo, to Duke Cosimo I. Ten years later, Cosimo II returned it to the Buonarroti family. Michelangelo’s genius is evident as a teenager in this, his first masterpiece, whose figures are so f luid that they look as if they were drawn with a pencil and molded in wax. He admired Donatello’s technique of rilievo schiacciato, a form of shallow relief carving requiring delicate chiseling of the marble, both to model the figures as well as create the sense of recession in space. However, it astonishes us that, as a teenager, Michelangelo’s conception of the Madonna and Child would be so different from the depictions of his predecessors." >
The original statue is somewhat over life-size and depicts Bacchus, the Roman God of Wine, in a reeling pose suggestive of drunkenness. Along with the Pietà, the Bacchus is one of only two surviving sculptures from the artist’s first period in Rome. c. 1496-1497.
Bacchus wears a wreath of ivy leaves, as that plant was sacred to the God. (They are not, as is often supposed, vine leaves.) In his right hand he holds a goblet of wine and in his left the skin of a tiger, an animal associated with the God “for its love of the grape”.
The statue was commissioned for the garden of Cardinal Raffaele Riario who intended for it to complement his collection of classical sculptures. It was rejected by Cardinal Riario and by 1506 found its way to the collection of Jacopo Galli, banker to both the Cardinal and Michelangelo, who had a similar garden near the Palazzo della Cancelleria. There it first appeared in a drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck, c. 1533-36. The statue was bought for the Medici family and transferred to Florence in 1572." >
The original statue is somewhat over life-size and depicts Bacchus, the Roman God of Wine, in a reeling pose suggestive of drunkenness. Along with the Pietà, the Bacchus is one of only two surviving sculptures from the artist’s first period in Rome. c. 1496-1497.
Bacchus wears a wreath of ivy leaves, as that plant was sacred to the God. (They are not, as is often supposed, vine leaves.) In his right hand he holds a goblet of wine and in his left the skin of a tiger, an animal associated with the God “for its love of the grape”.
The statue was commissioned for the garden of Cardinal Raffaele Riario who intended for it to complement his collection of classical sculptures. It was rejected by Cardinal Riario and by 1506 found its way to the collection of Jacopo Galli, banker to both the Cardinal and Michelangelo, who had a similar garden near the Palazzo della Cancelleria. There it first appeared in a drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck, c. 1533-36. The statue was bought for the Medici family and transferred to Florence in 1572." >
The original statue is somewhat over life-size and depicts Bacchus, the Roman God of Wine, in a reeling pose suggestive of drunkenness. Along with the Pietà, the Bacchus is one of only two surviving sculptures from the artist’s first period in Rome. c. 1496-1497.
Bacchus wears a wreath of ivy leaves, as that plant was sacred to the God. (They are not, as is often supposed, vine leaves.) In his right hand he holds a goblet of wine and in his left the skin of a tiger, an animal associated with the God “for its love of the grape”.
The statue was commissioned for the garden of Cardinal Raffaele Riario who intended for it to complement his collection of classical sculptures. It was rejected by Cardinal Riario and by 1506 found its way to the collection of Jacopo Galli, banker to both the Cardinal and Michelangelo, who had a similar garden near the Palazzo della Cancelleria. There it first appeared in a drawing by Maarten van Heemskerck, c. 1533-36. The statue was bought for the Medici family and transferred to Florence in 1572." >
The Moses (c. 1513–1515) is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb, it depicts the Biblical figure Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible used at that time. Michelangelo’s Moses was unequalled by any modern or ancient work. Seated in a serious attitude, he rests with one arm on the tablets, and with the other holds his long glossy beard, the hairs, so difficult to render in sculpture. The beautiful face, like that of a saint and mighty prince, seems as one regards it to need the veil to cover it, so splendid and shining does it appear, and so well has the artist presented it. The draperies fall in graceful folds, the muscles of the arms and bones of the hands are of such beauty and perfection, as are the legs and knees, the feet being adorned with excellent shoes, that Moses may now be called the friend of God more than ever, since God has permitted his body to be prepared for the resurrection before the others by the hand of Michelangelo." >
The Moses (c. 1513–1515) is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb, it depicts the Biblical figure Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible used at that time. Michelangelo’s Moses was unequalled by any modern or ancient work. Seated in a serious attitude, he rests with one arm on the tablets, and with the other holds his long glossy beard, the hairs, so difficult to render in sculpture. The beautiful face, like that of a saint and mighty prince, seems as one regards it to need the veil to cover it, so splendid and shining does it appear, and so well has the artist presented it. The draperies fall in graceful folds, the muscles of the arms and bones of the hands are of such beauty and perfection, as are the legs and knees, the feet being adorned with excellent shoes, that Moses may now be called the friend of God more than ever, since God has permitted his body to be prepared for the resurrection before the others by the hand of Michelangelo." >
The Moses (c. 1513–1515) is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb, it depicts the Biblical figure Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible used at that time. Michelangelo’s Moses was unequalled by any modern or ancient work. Seated in a serious attitude, he rests with one arm on the tablets, and with the other holds his long glossy beard, the hairs, so difficult to render in sculpture. The beautiful face, like that of a saint and mighty prince, seems as one regards it to need the veil to cover it, so splendid and shining does it appear, and so well has the artist presented it. The draperies fall in graceful folds, the muscles of the arms and bones of the hands are of such beauty and perfection, as are the legs and knees, the feet being adorned with excellent shoes, that Moses may now be called the friend of God more than ever, since God has permitted his body to be prepared for the resurrection before the others by the hand of Michelangelo." >
The Moses (c. 1513–1515) is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb, it depicts the Biblical figure Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible used at that time. Michelangelo’s Moses was unequalled by any modern or ancient work. Seated in a serious attitude, he rests with one arm on the tablets, and with the other holds his long glossy beard, the hairs, so difficult to render in sculpture. The beautiful face, like that of a saint and mighty prince, seems as one regards it to need the veil to cover it, so splendid and shining does it appear, and so well has the artist presented it. The draperies fall in graceful folds, the muscles of the arms and bones of the hands are of such beauty and perfection, as are the legs and knees, the feet being adorned with excellent shoes, that Moses may now be called the friend of God more than ever, since God has permitted his body to be prepared for the resurrection before the others by the hand of Michelangelo." >
The Moses (c. 1513–1515) is a sculpture by the Italian High Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. Commissioned in 1505 by Pope Julius II for his tomb, it depicts the Biblical figure Moses with horns on his head, based on a description in the Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Bible used at that time. Michelangelo’s Moses was unequalled by any modern or ancient work. Seated in a serious attitude, he rests with one arm on the tablets, and with the other holds his long glossy beard, the hairs, so difficult to render in sculpture. The beautiful face, like that of a saint and mighty prince, seems as one regards it to need the veil to cover it, so splendid and shining does it appear, and so well has the artist presented it. The draperies fall in graceful folds, the muscles of the arms and bones of the hands are of such beauty and perfection, as are the legs and knees, the feet being adorned with excellent shoes, that Moses may now be called the friend of God more than ever, since God has permitted his body to be prepared for the resurrection before the others by the hand of Michelangelo." >
Weight: 150 lbs.
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >
Weight: 150 lbs.
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >
Weight: 150 lbs.
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >
Sculpted from 1498–1500 establishing Michelangelo instantly as the greatest sculptor of his time. At the age of twenty-three, Michelangelo was commissioned by a French Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create the Pieta for St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican as a tomb monument. He traveled to the marble quarries at Cararra in central Italy to select the block from which to make this large work. The choice of the stone was important because he envisioned the statue as already existing within the marble, needing only to be “set free” from it.
The word Pietà means pity from the Greek word for “compassion” or “pity” and refers not, as often presumed to this specific work (Michelangelo actually did two other Pietàs later in life). The theme of Mary cradling the body of Christ in her lap was all but unknown in Italy before Michelangelo made it famous in this statue. Michelangelo rendered the theme in a way never before attempted or accomplished." >