1964-1965 New York World's Fair
18k Proof Gold Medallion 24mm (7.00 grams) 1/6 ounce fine gold
The Pietà of Michelangelo, Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus,
Michelangelo in exergue.
Scene of New York, above, with Skyline, bridge and Globe from New York's world's
fair, BROTHERHOOD THROUGH PEACE at center, NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR 1964 1965 to
right, VNIV. EXP SITIO NEO E BORACENSIS MCMLXIV LXV, top view of St. Peter's
Basilica, signature MGM at bottom left, three stamps to right.
The sculpture was shipped to
New York in
1964 in order to become the main draw for the Vatican pavilion at the
1964 New York World's Fair, where it was viewed by millions. A copy was
transported beforehand to ensure that the statue could be conveyed without being
damaged. This copy is on view at
St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, in
Yonkers.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured,
provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of
Authenticity.
La Pietà
(1499) is a
masterpiece of
Renaissance
sculpture
by the renowned artist
Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in
St.
Peter's Basilica in
Vatican
City. It is the first of a number of works of the same theme by the artist.
The statue was commissioned for the
French
cardinal
Jean de
Billheres, who was a representative in Rome. The statue 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.
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 statue is one of the most highly
finished works by Michelangelo.
Description
The structure is pyramidal, and the vertex coincides with Mary's head. The
statue widens progressively down the drapery of Mary's dress, to the base, the
rock of
Golgotha. The figures are quite out of proportion, owing to the difficulty
of depicting a fully-grown man cradled full-length in a woman's lap. Much of
Mary's body is concealed by her monumental drapery, and the relationship of the
figures appears quite natural. Michelangelo's interpretation of the Pieta was
far different from those previously created by other artists, as he sculpted a
young and beautiful Mary rather than an older woman around 50 years of age.[1]
The marks of the
Crucifixion are limited to very small nail marks and an indication of the
wound in Jesus' side.
Interpretations
The Madonna is represented as being very young, and about this peculiarity
there are different interpretations. One is that her youth symbolizes her
incorruptible purity, as Michelangelo himself said to his biographer and fellow
sculptor
Ascanio Condivi:
- Do you not know that chaste women stay fresh much more than those who
are not chaste? How much more in the case of the Virgin, who had never
experienced the least lascivious desire that might change her body?
Another explanation suggests that Michelangelo's treatment of the subject was
influenced by his passion for
Dante's
Divina Commedia: so well-acquainted was he with the work that when he
went to Bologna
he paid for hospitality by reciting verses from it. In Paradiso (cantica
33 of the poem)
Saint
Bernard, in a prayer for the Virgin Mary, says "Vergine madre, figlia del
tuo figlio" (Virgin mother, daughter of your son). This is said because,
being that Christ is one of the three figures of Trinity, Mary would be his
daughter, but it is also she who bore him.
A third interpretation is that suggested by Condivi shortly after the passage
quoted above: simply that "such freshness and flower of youth, besides being
maintained in by natural means, were assisted by act of God".
Yet another exposition posits that the viewer is actually looking at an image
of Mary holding the baby Jesus. Mary's youthful appearance and apparently
serene facial expression, coupled with the position of the arms could suggest
that she is seeing her child, while the viewer is seeing an image of the future.
Finally, one modern interpretation suggests that the smaller size of Christ
helps to illustrate his feebleness while in his state of death; no longer
living, he now appears small in his mother's arms.
Interpreting the sculpture in terms of its name, one might trace the origin:
"The duty children owed their parents, termed pietas, was associated by
Romans with the duty humans owed their gods" (James S. Jeffers, The
Greco-Roman World of the New Testament Era: Exploring the Background of Early
Christianity, Downers Grove, Ill. InterVarsity Press, 1999).
Precedent
While there was a precedent for painted depictions of Mary grieving over the
dead Christ in
Florentine art, the subject appears to have been novel to Italian sculpture.
There was, however, a tradition of sculptured pietàs in Northern art,
particularly in Germany, Poland and the Cardinal's native France. In addition,
the church of San Domenico in Bologna had a
German
sculpted pietà. This has led some to believe that the donor had these statues in
mind when the work was commissioned.
History
after completion
The process took less than two years. The Pietà's first home was the
Chapel of Santa Petronilla, a Roman mausoleum near the south transept of St.
Peter's, which the Cardinal 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 Pietà Michelangelo overheard (or
asked visitors about the sculptor) and someone remark that it was the work of
another sculptor,
Cristoforo Solari,
whereby Michelangelo signed the sculpture.[2]
Michelangelo carved MICHAELA[N]GELUS BONAROTUS FLORENTIN[US] FACIEBA[T]
(Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made it) 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.[3]
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 and scholars are divided as to whether the restorer took
liberties to make the gesture more 'rhetorical'. 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.
The sculpture was shipped to
New York in
1964 in order to become the main draw for the Vatican pavilion at the
1964 New York World's Fair, where it was viewed by millions. A copy was
transported beforehand to ensure that the statue could be conveyed without being
damaged. This copy is on view at
St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie, in
Yonkers.
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