Analysis Of The Pietá

During the late 14th century until about the 16th century, Italy and other European countries underwent a time of rebirth of the Ancient Greek and Roman classics. This era was known as the Renaissance. The citizens of Europe were surrounded by advancements in technology, music, and culture. However, one of the most prevalent changes that is still in affect today is the newly founded techniques in the arts. Artists began to think outside of the box, and they made some of the best paintings of their time. They used different methods than artists from previous centuries had, including classicism, secularism, humanism, and individualism. One of the greatest artists of all time, Michaelangelo, is most famous for his Italian Renaissance work. His work emblemized the progression and development that artists were making at that time. His sculpture, the Pietá, is a replication of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus, dead, after his crucifixion. The Pietá demonstrates advancements in the arts through his uses of classicism, perspective, and realism and expression.

During the Renaissance, a newfound interest in reviving the classical Greek and Roman led to classicism being depicted within the arts. This meant that one’s paintings or sculptures would illustrate ideas of classical beauty, which were once defined in those traditonal cultures. In Pietá, Michaelangelo brings out his interpretation of classicism through his portrayal of the Virgin Mary. At the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, he was about 30 years old, which meant that Mary was at least in her 40s, if not 50s. In other depictions of this great religious scene, the Virgin Mary is illustrated looking much older and less “beautiful.” However, Michaelangelo makes Mary look like a young and time...

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...which meant that it would be religious; Michaelangelo just created his own depiction of it. It had not yet been popular in Italy. Still, Michaelangelo’s sculpture showed advancements that the Renaissance was making in art. Not only does he create a realistic depiction of the scene, but he also incorporated geometric figures. The figure can be constructed into a triangle, with the top at Mary’s head. As the triangle would get wider, so does the sculpture, to Mary’s dress, Jesus’ body, and the rock she is sitting on. This shows that at the time of the Renaissance people were making not only art advancements, but also mathematical ones. This meant that people were growing more to understand geometric shapes, and they incorporated them into their works. Michaelangelo’s sculpture symbolizes a time of growth and developments in the arts and in everyday life and society.