Marble Used For Pieta

Peter s basilica vatican city it is the first of a number of works of the same theme by the artist.

Marble used for pieta.

For centuries the world has been captivated by the groundbreaking art of michelangelo working in multiple mediums the italian artist was a true renaissance man culminating in an impressive collection of world famous works that includes the sistine chapel ceiling an iconic interpretation of david and the pietà a monumental marble sculpture of the madonna cradling christ. As well as pieta michelangelo also created david too. The statue was commissioned for the french cardinal jean de bilhères who was a representative in rome the sculpture in carrara marble was made for the. He secured a block of carrara marble which he later claimed was the most perfect block of marble that he had ever used and began to chisel carefully transforming the stone into flesh.

It was moved to st. It s been a favorite medium of. Peter s basilica 200 years after its creation. Though this was a common technique of the time it was unlikely that the master used this method.

Pieta took the artist many months to complete during the years of 1498 99. Giorgio vasari who claimed to have first hand knowledge a singular witness has described how michelangelo would immerse his wax models in water and gradually raise them up wile carving stone as the figure was revealed above the water line. The marble block was extracted by executing a deep cut in the marble cave in which metallic chisels were later inserted. Michelangelo preferred carrara marble because he felt it had a luminous quality much like human skin.

Specifically he used carrara marble a white and blue stone named for the italian region where it is mined. Carrara marble was used in the construction of some of ancient rome s most magnificent monuments including the pantheon and trajan s column which commemorates roman victories in dacia. Michelangelo carved it from a single slab of marble. The pieta is constructed from a single piece of carrara marble the same marble used for michelangelo s david the pantheon in rome the marble arch in london and the duomo di siena.