Running Head: PIETÀ: THE FIRST AND THE FAMOUS
Pietà: The First and The Famous
Brianna Aceves
Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
30 April 2015
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History of the Pietà
Over history, there have been many renditions of the Pietà; two of these renditions
consist of Pietà by Michelangelo and Pietà Röttgen. The Pietà is a subject in Christian art,
which depicts the Virgin Mary holding the dead body of Jesus Christ after his crucifixion.
The first Pietà rendition was found in the 14th century, which is the Pietà Röttgen
(faithology.com). This was an important movement in art history, as one of the first
sculptures to isolate the moment of Mary and Jesus, and unfortunately the artist who
started it is unknown.
Pietà by Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1498-1500)
Michelangelo was commissioned by
Cardinal Jean de Bilhères to create this
sculpture to go into a side chapel at Old St.
Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Italy
(italianrenaissance.org). Michelangelo used a
block of Carrera marble to create this
masterpiece. The sculpture depicted the Virgin
Mary holding the dead body of Jesus Christ
after his crucifixion and removal from the
cross. This is also known as one of the Seven
Sorrows of Mary, which is apart of the
Catholic devotional prayers. In the late 15th
century this kind of artwork was more
commonly found in France or Germany, it
was very rare that an Italian artwork was
depicting the Pietà. In addition to such, also the
Retrieved from:
multi-figured sculpture was rare even for
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelos-pieta/
renaissance art. Michelangelo completed his
most famous rendition of the Pietà when he was 24 years old.
Michelangelo constructed a very intimate relationship between mother and child
in this sculpture. Michelangelo has captured this sentimental moment, where a mother
has outlived her child; the pain and suffering Christ has endured is being presented, as
well as the pain and suffering Mary is enduring in this moment. There is a strong enigma
that personifies Jesus Christ’s death as God’s sacrifice for mankind (khanacademy.com).
Mary’s expresses sheer sadness and devastation, and her head is bowed in a resigned
acknowledgment and acceptance of what has happened is not the end of Christ’s life.
The sculpture as you can see above is very realistic in it’s form. The stone is
almost transformed into flesh with the deep carvings that Michelangelo has instilled. The
way Michelangelo carved these grooves and markings established a pure surface for
realistic skin to be presented. It is almost as if you can see the veins underneath Christ’s
skin. Also with the carvings made, there is a perfect contrast of light and shadow being
casted which strengthens the realism of this moment, making it surreal. The viewer can
gather that there is a loss of life in Christ’s body by the upward exposure and
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vulnerability of his neck, and his foot hanging in mid air solidifies the lifelessness in the
body that Mary is holding. There is a complete lack of resistance in his body and appears
that Mary need to extend much strength to hold him up.
Although both Mary and Jesus’s head are proportional, Mary’s body appears to be
larger in scale. Michelangelo had done this intentionally to make the carvings in the
drapery intricate and complex to appear as if there is a surplus of cloth. It makes Jesus
Christ appear smaller referring it back to some other images of the Madonna and Child.
Another note to add is that Christ appears unscathed by the crucifixion, as if he is
peacefully sleeping. We will see the gorier perspective/rendition of this piece in Pietà
Röttgen.
Pietà Röttgen by Unknown Artist (c.1300-25)
Pietà Röttgen was presumably the
first artwork that instilled the importance of
this moment with the Virgin Mary and
Jesus. It was made in the late gothic period
of the 14th century. To reiterate why the
Pietà is created, this, before it’s creation was
usually shown as a narrative of lamentation.
The artist has created a focal point of
examining the relationship of Mary and
Jesus.
In this devastating work of art, the
gruesomeness I mentioned earlier can be
seen here as well. The viewer can conclude
that Jesus is palpably dead as Mary holds
him. Christ has not just blood pouring out of
his wounds, but exploding out of him
(khanacademy.com). There is blood pouring
down his whole body, with his face left in
an excruciating expression with the crown
of thorns embedded into his forehead. The
viewer can see the volume and weight that
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is added to Christ’s head that makes it
http://culturedart.blogspot.com/2010/12/virginappear as a struggle for Mary to hold him
with-dead-christ-rottgen-pieta.html
up. It is concluded to be an asymmetrical
artwork due to this bulky volume and weight in the piece (Adams, Yates, Warren, The
Grotesque in Art and Literature, 135).
In an interesting perspective, viewers see the Virgin Mary with upset look, a
furrowed brow in almost an expression of anger and confusion. Normally, we see Mary
depicted as a queen, in semi-divineness. She is usually depicted as confidently knowing
Jesus’s death was temporary. Mary’s humanity is extremely expressed in this image. We
see that the focus the artist wanted to portray was the naked emotion of this moment.
They have stripped away the narrative elements of the lamentation and have left the dark
and sensitive emotion.
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The Comparison
Pietà Röttgen and the Pietà are similar in the story they would like to address to
the audience of their artworks. However, the presented pieces differ in ideology and
presentation. According to, The Grotesque in Art and Literature: Theological Reflections
by James Luther Adams, Wilson Yates, Robert Penn Warren, the Pietà Röttgen is a 3foot tall wooden sculpture that was originally created to be placed at the side alters of a
church as a devotional image (132). This piece is primarily in account of Christ’s
compensating wounds instead of the grief and relationship between Mary and Christ that
is presented in Michelangelo’s Pietà.
Michelangelo’s Pietà is very idealized in shape and form, alone with the realistic
qualities he’s projected. Pietà Röttgen, is very grotesque in it’s perception and creation. It
has a more defaced body of Jesus Christ as opposed to Michelangelo’s clean, peaceful
slumber aspect that Jesus has in his. Michelangelo has created a very youthful Mary as
well, in comparison to the older face of Mary in Pietà Röttgen.
Concluding the comparison, the transitional period from Gothic Art to
Renaissance art renditions of the Pietà, has been changed in ideology and the idea of
“perfection”, and expression. Originally, the Pietà Röttgen was created to focus attention
on the lamentation of Jesus and Mary, and the emotion going along with said event.
Transitioning into Pietà by Michelangelo has become a sorrowful moment as well but in
a different light. Both works of art are presenting the pain and suffering endured on both
ends of Jesus Christ and Mary. However, both painting are portraying this message in
different ways. Pietà Röttgen uses the gore of Jesus’s wounds and afflictions of Mary;
Pietà by Michelangelo uses realism with a connection between mother and son.
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REFERENCES
Adams, J., Yates, W., & Warren, R. (1997). The grotesque in art and literature:
Theological reflections (pp. 132-135). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.
Art & Culture: 104. (2010, December 5). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
http://culturedart.blogspot.com/2010/12/virgin-with-dead-christ-rottgenpieta.html
Lewis, B. (2015, January 1). The Pieta. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
http://www.faithology.com/art/pieta
Michelangelo's Pieta. (2012, July 23). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
http://www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelos-pieta/
Michelangelo, Pietà. (2015, January 1). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/high-renflorence-rome/michelangelo/v/michelangelo-piet-1498-1500
Röttgen Pietà. (2015, January 1). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/medieval-world/latin-westerneurope/gothic1/v/roettgen-pieta