Pietà (Michelangelo)
Michelangelo's only signed sculpture, a High Renaissance masterpiece.
The *Pietà* (also called the *Madonna della Pietà*) is a sculpture carved from Carrara marble by Michelangelo Buonarroti. It depicts the body of Jesus lying across the lap of his mother, Mary, at Mount Golgotha, representing the "Sixth Sorrow" of the Virgin. The work was made between 1498 and 1499 for Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, where it still resides. It is considered a pivotal piece of Italian Renaissance sculpture and is often regarded as the beginning of the High Renaissance. This is the only artwork Michelangelo ever signed.
The sculpture shows the moment after Jesus was taken down from the cross and given to his mother. Mary appears noticeably younger than her son, a choice art historians link to a passage in Dante Alighieri’s *Divine Comedy*: "O virgin mother, daughter of your Son... your merit so ennobled human nature that its divine Creator did not hesitate to become its creature" (*Paradiso*, Canto XXXIII). Michelangelo’s aesthetic approach was unprecedented in Italian sculpture, balancing early naturalism with Renaissance ideals of classical beauty.
The statue was originally commissioned by Cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas, the French ambassador in Rome, as an altarpiece for his funeral chapel in Old Saint Peter’s. When that chapel was demolished, the sculpture was preserved and later moved in the 18th century to its current location: the first chapel on the north side after the entrance of the new basilica. On Pentecost Sunday in 1972, the figure of Mary was vandalized, requiring restoration. After the incident, the statue was protected by a bulletproof glass screen, which was replaced and modernized in November 2024 in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee.
The composition is pyramidal, with Mary’s head at the apex and the statue widening through her drapery down to the base, which represents the rock of Golgotha. The figures are deliberately out of proportion because of the difficulty of showing a full-grown man cradled across a woman’s lap. Much of Mary’s body is hidden by her monumental robes, making the relationship between the two figures appear natural. Unlike earlier depictions of the Pietà, Michelangelo carved Mary as young and beautiful rather than as a woman in her mid-forties or older, which would match the age of her 33-year-old son. The marks of the Crucifixion are minimal: only small nail marks and an indication of the
- artist
- Michelangelo Buonarroti
- material
- Carrara marble
- year_created
- 1498–1499
- location
- Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
- subject
- Jesus and Mary representing the 'Sixth Sorrow' of the Virgin Mary
- signature
- MICHÆLANGELVS BONAROTVS FLORENTINVS FACIEBAT
Lore & Background
The statue was originally commissioned by French cardinal Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas, then French ambassador in Rome, as an altarpiece for his funeral chapel in Old St Peter's. When that chapel was demolished, the Pietà was preserved and later moved to its current location, the first chapel on the north side after the entrance of the new basilica, in the 18th century. The sculpture captures the moment Jesus, taken down from the cross, is given to his mother Mary, who appears younger than Jesus—a choice art historians believe was inspired by a passage in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy.
Mary's youth has been explained by Michelangelo himself, who told his biographer Ascanio Condivi that chaste women stay fresh much more than those who are not chaste, especially the Virgin who had never experienced lascivious desire. Another theory links the depiction to Dante's line 'Vergine madre, figlia del tuo figlio.' The structure is pyramidal, with the vertex at Mary's head, and the figures are deliberately out of proportion to accommodate a full-grown man cradled in a woman's lap. The marks of the Crucifixion are limited to small nail marks and an indication of the wound in Jesus' side.
Reader's Guide
The Pietà is significant as a turning point in Renaissance sculpture, balancing early forms of naturalism with classical beauty ideals. It was the only work Michelangelo ever signed, after overhearing someone attribute it to another sculptor. The statue has endured damage and restoration: four fingers on Mary's left hand were restored in 1736, and the figure of Mary was vandalized on Pentecost Sunday 1972 by a mentally disturbed geologist, after which it was protected by bulletproof glass. In 1964, the Pietà was lent to the New York World's Fair, where it was viewed from a conveyor belt, and was returned to St. Peter's in 1965. Pope Paul VI then ordered it never to travel again. The work's legacy includes influencing later depictions of the Pietà and remaining a central devotional image in Vatican City.
Did You Know?
- The Pietà is the only piece Michelangelo ever signed.
- Mary appears younger than Jesus in the sculpture, a choice Michelangelo linked to her incorruptible purity.
- The statue was vandalized on Pentecost Sunday 1972 by a mentally disturbed geologist using a hammer.
- Two drilled holes at the top of the Virgin Mary's head once supported a bar holding two levitating angels.
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