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Michelangelo, Pietà

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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: We're in
    Saint Peter's Basilica standing
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    in front of
    Michelangelo's Pieta.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS:
    I feel very lucky,
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    because on this rainy Monday
    morning, we're the only ones.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And it
    actually looks quite small--
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: It does.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: In
    relationship to the chapel
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    that holds it, but
    also especially
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    in relationship to Saint
    Peter's, which is so vast.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: Of
    course, this sculpture
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    was made for a
    cardinal, but then it
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    was placed in the
    old Saint Peter's,
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    which was significantly
    smaller than this one.
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    And so it would have had
    a different relationship
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    to the architecture.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: What
    I'm finding interesting
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    is despite the fact that
    it's relatively small,
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    and probably about
    20 feet away from us,
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    it's still a really
    intimate image.
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    There really is this
    extraordinary relationship
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    that Michelangelo
    has constructed
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    between the body
    of the dead Christ
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    and his mother, the Virgin
    Mary, who holds him on her lap.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: Mary looks
    very young and beautiful,
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    but her body is-- and her lap
    is sort of enlarged to carry
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    the body of her dead son, but
    the realization that dead body,
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    of its weight--
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: It's weight.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: One of the most
    beautiful passages, I think,
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    of the sculpture is the way
    that she holds up his right arm,
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    and pulls up that
    flesh a little bit.
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    And you really
    feel first of all,
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    that the marble is transformed
    by Michelangelo into flesh,
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    but also the weight of that
    body, and through that weight,
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    the loss of life that's
    so palpable for Mary.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
    It's the complete lack
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    of resistance that
    his body offers
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    and the exertion that she has
    to extend in order to hold him.
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    And that contrast
    makes for the viewer,
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    I think, a very
    physical experience
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    looking at the sculpture.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: His
    body looks so much
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    like the body of a real,
    young man, the ribcage
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    and the abdominal muscles.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
    And yet it's also
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    idealized in the
    way in which there's
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    this beautiful turn of
    his body across her lap.
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    And for Mary as well, there's
    this interesting contradiction
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    in her sweetness,
    and the beauty,
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    but also the strength and the
    scale that's necessary for her
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    to easily hold him.
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    Look at how deeply
    carved that marble is.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: The drapery.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
    This real love
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    of the turn of the stone, that's
    creating this very vivid sense
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    of alternation, really,
    of light and shadow,
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    the complexity of
    surface against
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    the broad, pure surfaces of
    Christ's legs, of his torso,
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    of his arm.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: Mary tilts her
    head forward, and looks down
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    at him.
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    His head is thrown
    back, so there's
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    [INAUDIBLE] between
    those two necks for me.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: And
    his neck is exposed to us,
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    incredibly vulnerable.
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    Christ's foot hangs in midair.
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    Mary, her left hand is open and
    pointing delicately forward,
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    as if she still trying
    to comprehend his death.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: But
    I think there's also
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    a way of presenting Christ's
    body to the viewers,
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    saying this is the
    path to salvation.
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    This is God's sacrifice for
    mankind, my sacrifice of my son
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    that makes possible
    your redemption.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: There
    is a kind of rhythm
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    that points to that hand.
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    The drape and the knee point
    up towards Christ's knees,
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    which in turn create a kind of
    rhythmic bridge to her hand,
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    and to that sense of wondering.
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    This is very clearly
    an image that's
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    meant to be contemplated.
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    And the pain and the suffering
    that Christ has endured that--
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    DR. BETH HARRIS:
    And Mary's enduring.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER: That
    Mary is enduring is
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    meant to be contemplated
    as a pathway.
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    DR. BETH HARRIS: They're
    polishing the floor.
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    DR. STEVEN ZUCKER:
    OK, let's move on.
Title:
Michelangelo, Pietà
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Team:
Khan Academy
Duration:
03:39
Fran Ontanaya edited English subtitles for Michelangelo, Pietà Jun 25, 2020, 7:41 PM
Amara Bot edited English subtitles for Michelangelo, Pietà Jun 16, 2020, 6:40 PM

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