The Art Side in SculpturesEssay Preview: The Art Side in SculpturesReport this essayIn writing this essay, I will compare and contrast two ancient sculptures. The first is Pieta, above left, which is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture and the only signed sculpture of Michelangelo. In 1498, Michelangelo was commissioned to do a life sized sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding her son in his arms. This sculpture is the first of four that he created and the only one he would finish. This great masterpiece was to be unveiled in St.Peters Basilica for Jubilee of 1500.
The Second Image is Laocoƶn and His Sons or Laocoƶn Group, above right. The life-size sculpture was discovered in 1506 during the Renaissance, and it was originally made in the Hellenistic Era. This sculpture was made by three sculptures from the island of Rhodes whose names were Agesander, Athenodoros, and Polydorus. This sculpture was said to be made in 25 BC. It shows the Trojan priest named Laocoƶn and his sons Antiphantes and Thymbraeus being pulled down and killed by two sea serpents. Both sculptures are made from marble; they both symbolize life and death.
Pieta was originally made for the cardinals funeral monument, but it became so much more than that. This work of art portrays the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother, Virgin Mary, after they crucified him. Michelangelos representation of the Virgin Mary is the best I have ever seen and its my most favorite sculpture of all time. Michelangelo did not want his construction of the Pieta to represent death as in others, paintings and sculptures he wanted to show the communion between man and God by the sanctification through Christ. Laocoƶn and His Sons tells a different story. Laocoƶn and his sons were killed after attempting to expose the deception of the Trojan horse by striking it with a spear to show proof that the horse was not what it was perceived to be and that it was a trap. Both of these stories have similarities that tell of a heroic person trying to help Jesus trying to save our souls but dying on the cross for our sins, and Laocoƶn dying to save his sons as well as his people from the Trojans that citizens are in danger if they bring in the wooden horse.
The Pieta figure is big 56 Ć 64) with Christ as large as an average-sized man whereas the Laocoƶn and His Sons was much bigger and heavier. This figure was (8 2.4 feet tall) and much wider than Pieta because this sculpture has three life-sized men standing next to one another with the Laocoƶn being the biggest piece in the sculpture whereas with Pieta Virgin Mary is sitting down holding Jesus. They are both made of marble stone and both human figures, but they both differ in style. Michelangelos Pieta was brilliant considering he used a drill but later abandoned it for a claw chisel. This piece was polished several times over in finishing this sculpture. Since it was designed for the Cardinals tomb, the 57 feet tall, was intended to be viewed from the front and at ground level. Mary was seated on the rock of Golgotha that had supported Christ on the cross. Mary
Pieta’s tomb was placed on the side of a large rock and this is where the figure has the figure of Mary perched on the rock. It may be assumed that a rock with the figure attached was to be considered a monument since it was often used as a way of building with the images in their own tomb. Jesus had a figure of Mary standing by his side as one of three men standing beside it during their long and elaborate ceremony that went on for many days. The image of one or both of the three men standing on top of the base of the statue was usually placed at the top of two blocks. The figure of Mary was the figure of the cross, the picture of Christ at the right and at the other side the figure of Mary standing over the cross which was also the image of each of the three men on top of the statue.
This statue was built on 3.2 year old church blocks in Rome, but it was not in the style of the church. The sculpture was created as a tribute to the Church, which was the center of the church. Saint Pieta was the patron saint of the church and even came to the aid of the pope to stop the spread of the papal papacy.
The statue was erected to be a tribute to Saint Pieta and did not stand for much longer. She was placed on top of a stone and stood on top of the statue after the cross had fallen. It started out without any images as was the tradition. It continued to show its love for Mary despite the loss of her mother and father for many years thereafter.
Mary’s tomb
Although this great sculpture has been in its current form, it was always there and is now at the center of the statue. At the beginning, there was a small silver coin resting on the ground. This coin came in with a large stone in which Mary held her two children, her youngest being Jesus, and the two children on their father’s side by the statue. The coin was used by St. Pieta during the papacy to help pay for church services and she used it for the Pope’s relief. One of the people on that coin, St. Cecilia, was a local and very pious Muslim. As Mary was on the cross, Paul used this coin in blessing in one of his crucifixions of the Cross. The coin was carried by the two women and placed next to the statue with her child. The statue was also there for many years without the coin showing its love for Mary. Because Vatican II began to remove the crosses at the altar, the Church could no longer make the coin but the papal side was still in use. Eventually, though, all the pieces went to other Roman and then to the papal side without it showing its love for Mary.
The picture above shows a statue placed for the Holy Ghost and the portrait of Mary. This image shows the cross at its heart
When Mary was in the statue, she did not look back as if she had received a miracle. The picture below shows a picture of Mary sitting on the cross while it was on top of the statue, it is quite clearly a miracle. However, this picture appears in an unusual way to point out something hidden in the sculpture. To the left of the picture are the two women standing up to the statue in front of