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 "The Pieta", New York World's Fair Issue Scott 384 and 386 (1964) On this date over 500 years ago, on August 26, 1498, Michelangelo secured the contract to craft the magnificent sculpture known as “The Pieta”. This work, completed when he was only 24 years old, established him as one of the great sculptors of all time, and the 'Pieta' was to become one of the most beloved sculptures in the world. The Vatican Notes article cited in the References below details how Michelangelo came to be the artist who created this masterpiece. His friend, Jacopo Gallo, helped him secure the contract for the work with Cardinal Jean de la Groslaye de Villiers (also known as the “Cardinal of San Dionigio”). The cardinal had come to Rome in 1493 as the ambassador of King Charles VIII of France to Pope Alexander VI. From the Vatican Notes article, the following passage from the contract states: ”Let it be known and manifest to who so read the ensuing document that the most Rev. Cardinal of S. Dionigio has this agreed with the master Michelangelo, sculptor of Florence, to wit, that the said master shall make a Pieta of marble at his own cost; that is to say, a Virgin Mother clother, with the dead Christ in her arms, of the size of a proper man, for the price of 450 gold ducats of the Papal mint, within the term of one year from the day of the commencement of the work”The document ends with a guaranty from Jacopo Gallo: ”And I, Jacopo Gallo, pledge my word to his most Rev. Lordship that the said Michelangelo will finish the work within one year, and it shall be the finest work in marble which Rome can show today…”  The Pietà Photo by Stanislav Traykov From Wikimedia Commons, used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license The Pietà was first located in the Chapel of Saint Petronilla, a circular Roman mausoleum attached to the south transept of the old Saint Peter's Basilica (which was demolished during the rebuilding of the basilica). It now rests in the Chapel of the Pieta in the Basilica, which is the first chapel one enters when passing through the Holy Door during this Jubilee Year of 2025. The Pieta would help establish Michelangelo as one of the great masters of Renaissance art, a position that would be enhanced by his contributions to the fields of painting and architecture in addition to sculpture over his lifetime. In an interesting footnote to the creation of this great work, Michelangelo did not normally sign his works. But legend has it that he heard some Lombards passing the statue state that the Pieta had been created by another sculptor, Cristoforo Solari, also known as Il Gobbo. To remove all doubt, Michelangelo went on to engrave the belt across the Madonna’s chest with the words: The stamps at the top of this article come from the 1964 Vatican City issue marking the exhibition of the Pieta at the 1964 World Fair in New York, which is a remarkable story in and of itself. REFERENCES: |
