Pietà Rondanini

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Castello Sforzesco, Milan

April 2012

“An unfinished sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti”: this was my knowledge before entering the Milanese Castle, last Easter. Michelangelo worked on this “Pietà” until a few days before his death.
Two sculptures, between the most famous he did, are about the same subjects, now conserved in Florence (top) and Rome (below).

The Pietà Rondanini has something completely different: it is unique.

The scene represents the death of Christ, and Mary, His mother, is desperately embracing and holding up his lifeless body.The composition evolves vertically and it is sensational how, from different angulations, seems that the body of Christ is holding his mother.

Personally I felt like staring at the most beautiful way to face love, sacrifice and suffering. In a painful situation we can either be angry and scream at it, or believe in the possibility to sustain and being sustained, as Michelangelo described here.

Reference

Howard Hibbard, Michelangelo ( London : Allan Lane, 1975)

Ludwig Goldscheider, Michelangelo : paintings, sculptures, architecture (London : Phaidon Press,1953)

Ludwig Goldscheider, The sculptures of Michelangelo, ( London : Allen & Unwin, 1940)