Michelangelo's Pieta (Mary and Jesus Close-Up, B&W)), St. Peter's Basilica, The Vatican

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According to Wikipedia, La Pieta is the first of a number of works on the same theme by Michelangelo Buonarroti. The statue was commissioned for the French cardinal Jean de Billheres, who was a representative in Rome. The sculpture, in Carrara marble, was made for the cardinal's funeral monument, but was moved to its current location, the first chapel on the right as one enters the basilica, in the 18th century. It is the only piece Michelangelo ever signed. This famous work of art depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion. The theme is of Northern origin, popular by that time in France but not yet in Italy. Michelangelo's interpretation of the Pietà is unique to the precedents. It is an important work as it balances the Renaissance ideals of classical beauty with naturalism. The sculpture took less than two years and its first home was the Chapel of Santa Petronilla, a Roman mausoleum near the south transept of St. Peter's, which Cardinal Billheres chose as his funerary chapel. The chapel was later demolished by Bramante during his rebuilding of the basilica. According to Giorgio Vasari, shortly after the installation of his Pieta Michelangelo overheard someone remark that it was the work of another sculptor, Cristoforo Solari, whereupon Michelangelo signed the sculpture. Michelangelo carved MICHAELA[N]GELUS BONAROTUS FLORENTIN[US] FACIEBA[T] (Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this) on the sash running across Mary's chest. It was the only work he ever signed. Vasari also reports the anecdote that Michelangelo later regretted his outburst of pride and swore never to sign another work of his hands. In subsequent years the Pietà sustained much damage. Four fingers on Mary's left hand, broken during a move, were restored in 1736 by Giuseppe Lirioni. The most substantial damage occurred on May 21, 1972 (Pentecost Sunday) when a mentally disturbed geologist named Laszlo Toth walked into the chapel and attacked the sculpture with a geologist's hammer while shouting "I am Jesus Christ". Onlookers took many of the pieces of marble that flew off. Later, some pieces were returned, but many were not, including Mary's nose, which had to be reconstructed from a block cut out of her back. After the attack, the work was painstakingly restored and returned to its place in St. Peter's, just to the right of the entrance, between the Holy Door and the altar of Saint Sebastian, and is now protected by a bullet-proof acrylic glass panel.
Several things made this image difficult to capture: The lighting was fairly dim and the image required a high and somewhat noisy ISO, the crowd was very large and the image had to be captured over their heads, and the protective glass is highly reflective and thus I had to relocate myself several times to somewhere where those reflections did no mar the resulting image. I took some thirty shots, most of them with some part of the statute missing and others with reflections marring part of the image. This was one of only two shots worth keeping.

Taken in: Vatican / Vatican (show map)

Taken on: September 17, 2013

Tags:

La Pieta

Mary

St. Peter's Cathedral

Saint Peter's Cathedral

St. Peter's Basilica

Saint Peter's Basilica

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Michelangelo

Cardinal Jean de Billheres

Cardinal Billheres

Carrara Marble

Vatican City

The Vatican

Vatican

Paul Fernandez « less

Sets appears in: • 2013 - Venice, Rome & The Vatican • Sculpture more » • B&W Development of Color Images « less

Camera: Nikon D800, f/5.3, 1/13 sec, 195mm (=292mm), ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nikon D800
Lens:	70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6
Aperture:	f/5.3
Exposure Time:	0.077 sec (1/13)
Focal Length:	195mm (35mm equivalent: 292mm)
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	+1 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Spot
White Balance:	Manual
Light Source:	Fine Weather
Gain Control:	Low gain up
Sharpness:	Hard
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)
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