The Pieta is a marble sculpture carved by Michelangelo Buonarroti between 1498 and 1499, depicting the body of Jesus lying across the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion. Carved from Carrara marble and standing about 174 centimetres tall, it was made for a cardinal's funerary monument and today stands in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. It is regarded as a key work of Italian Renaissance sculpture, often taken as marking the start of the High Renaissance, blending naturalistic detail with an idealized, classical sense of beauty in a way unprecedented for its time.
Facts
Year CreatedSculpted 1498-1499 per Wikipedia; 1499 recorded as completion year. LocationSaint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City 1 Primary Material Commissioned ByCardinal Jean Bilheres de Lagraulas, French ambassador to Rome 1 Current UseOn permanent public display in Saint Peter's Basilica 1 Visitor AccessPublicly viewable, displayed behind bulletproof glass since a 1972 vandalism attack 1 Connections
Sources
1. Pieta (Michelangelo) (Wikipedia)
WikipediaWikipedia, Pieta (Michelangelo), opening sentence (post-IPA clause)
; 1498-1499) is a Carrara marble sculpture of Jesus and Mary at Mount Golgotha representing the "Sixth Sorrow" of the Virgin Mary by Michelangelo Buonarroti, in Saint Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, for which it was made.
Wikipedia, Pieta (Michelangelo), third paragraph, commission sentence
The statue was originally commissioned by a French cardinal, Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas, then French ambassador in Rome.
Wikipedia, Pieta (Michelangelo), final paragraph, 1972 vandalism and display
after the incident, the statue was protected by a bulletproof glass screen that was replaced and modernized in November 2024 in preparation for the 2025 Jubilee.
Genre reference
The Pieta is a marble sculpture carved by Michelangelo Buonarroti between 1498 and 1499, depicting the body of Jesus lying across the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion.
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