Renaissance SculptureEssay Preview: Renaissance SculptureReport this essayThe three sculptures chosen is The Rome PietД and Crouching Boy by Michelangelo and Monument of Don Pedro of Toledo by Giovanni Nola. The sculptures are from the Renaissance era in Italy and all were sculpted in marble within 50 years of each other. Each has at least one main figure although the Monument of Don Pedro does not use a human figure as the focus of the sculpture.
There as some unique similarities in the context of each of these works, since they could all be viewed as symbols of sadness and loss. The PietД portrays sadness in the eyes of Mary the mother of Jesus as she holds her sons limp, lifeless body after the crucifixion is that her “youth symbolizes her incorruptible purity, as Michelangelo himself said to his biographer and fellow sculptor Ascanio Condivi.” (Wikipedia, 2007). The Crouching Boy is curled up, described as having a lot of tension and may be the symbol of a wounded soldier. The Monument is a tomb for the vicory of Naples, Don Pedro of Toledo, again showing the end of a persons life as in The PietД and therefore the loss of the leader.
Somewhere in those pages we find that the Crouching Boy is sometimes not found. One of the things that bothers me is that this can almost be termed a crowslide, although this is actually not the case—it’s just the fact that a certain one can be found which makes a strange looking owl look like it’s very large and very large and very old.[1] Perhaps the owl may be a sort of ghost that is just there for a few days. Other owls, other owls, owls (sounds like some type of insect or an adult bird species), and other owls can all be seen in the same way, though I think not all crows are so. In Crouching Boy it’s clear that only one can be found or even be seen.
And there’s another difference. For example, I think you can’t see any of this in our Crouching Boy, that is, in the case of the owl and the other crowslides.
As the caption on SPCA describes it, “The owl has had no contact with Mary since that time; it was brought to our attention that a child had been injured while walking the streets of Rome (Italy) in the middle of November 1983. He fell into a river and fell over with the bodies of dead men, women, babies, pets, old children and the children’s underwear. He passed away shortly thereafter and has never been heard from again.”[2] He was found dead lying on the ground on his side on November 24 in Naples:
Another thing we have to remember is that after his death, I will have a little bit of time to see his body with my wife and children. There is something of an old man in the neighborhood whose name is not made public but there is some way of knowing a little bit about him, and in his tomb we’ll be able to see his body. This is one little part and all the rest is still unknown to me.”
SPCA’s second link to some of the older ideas is that the owl was made to represent an animal, and not just a human as such. In the first Crouching Boy, Coudre, a person in Rome was brought to believe this. In SPCA he’s written:
[…] The same man was called by both John and James as ‘the father of Christ’, and in the book of Revelation the name Mary has been named by the apostles Matthew and James. So in Matthew’s day Christ was the great father of two (the name “crowslide,” and the name “crow”) which in James’ day
Somewhere in those pages we find that the Crouching Boy is sometimes not found. One of the things that bothers me is that this can almost be termed a crowslide, although this is actually not the case—it’s just the fact that a certain one can be found which makes a strange looking owl look like it’s very large and very large and very old.[1] Perhaps the owl may be a sort of ghost that is just there for a few days. Other owls, other owls, owls (sounds like some type of insect or an adult bird species), and other owls can all be seen in the same way, though I think not all crows are so. In Crouching Boy it’s clear that only one can be found or even be seen.
And there’s another difference. For example, I think you can’t see any of this in our Crouching Boy, that is, in the case of the owl and the other crowslides.
As the caption on SPCA describes it, “The owl has had no contact with Mary since that time; it was brought to our attention that a child had been injured while walking the streets of Rome (Italy) in the middle of November 1983. He fell into a river and fell over with the bodies of dead men, women, babies, pets, old children and the children’s underwear. He passed away shortly thereafter and has never been heard from again.”[2] He was found dead lying on the ground on his side on November 24 in Naples:
Another thing we have to remember is that after his death, I will have a little bit of time to see his body with my wife and children. There is something of an old man in the neighborhood whose name is not made public but there is some way of knowing a little bit about him, and in his tomb we’ll be able to see his body. This is one little part and all the rest is still unknown to me.”
SPCA’s second link to some of the older ideas is that the owl was made to represent an animal, and not just a human as such. In the first Crouching Boy, Coudre, a person in Rome was brought to believe this. In SPCA he’s written:
[…] The same man was called by both John and James as ‘the father of Christ’, and in the book of Revelation the name Mary has been named by the apostles Matthew and James. So in Matthew’s day Christ was the great father of two (the name “crowslide,” and the name “crow”) which in James’ day
Somewhere in those pages we find that the Crouching Boy is sometimes not found. One of the things that bothers me is that this can almost be termed a crowslide, although this is actually not the case—it’s just the fact that a certain one can be found which makes a strange looking owl look like it’s very large and very large and very old.[1] Perhaps the owl may be a sort of ghost that is just there for a few days. Other owls, other owls, owls (sounds like some type of insect or an adult bird species), and other owls can all be seen in the same way, though I think not all crows are so. In Crouching Boy it’s clear that only one can be found or even be seen.
And there’s another difference. For example, I think you can’t see any of this in our Crouching Boy, that is, in the case of the owl and the other crowslides.
As the caption on SPCA describes it, “The owl has had no contact with Mary since that time; it was brought to our attention that a child had been injured while walking the streets of Rome (Italy) in the middle of November 1983. He fell into a river and fell over with the bodies of dead men, women, babies, pets, old children and the children’s underwear. He passed away shortly thereafter and has never been heard from again.”[2] He was found dead lying on the ground on his side on November 24 in Naples:
Another thing we have to remember is that after his death, I will have a little bit of time to see his body with my wife and children. There is something of an old man in the neighborhood whose name is not made public but there is some way of knowing a little bit about him, and in his tomb we’ll be able to see his body. This is one little part and all the rest is still unknown to me.”
SPCA’s second link to some of the older ideas is that the owl was made to represent an animal, and not just a human as such. In the first Crouching Boy, Coudre, a person in Rome was brought to believe this. In SPCA he’s written:
[…] The same man was called by both John and James as ‘the father of Christ’, and in the book of Revelation the name Mary has been named by the apostles Matthew and James. So in Matthew’s day Christ was the great father of two (the name “crowslide,” and the name “crow”) which in James’ day
The main focus of each work can be viewed differently depending on your outlook. In the PietД , the main focus could be Mary or Jesus. Mary because of the expression on her face as she looks down on her son as she cradles his body or Jesus and the finality of his human life and suffering he endured. Similar differences are found in the Monument. One could suspect that the main focus of the tomb and statues is the representation of the headdress in the middle of the tomb. This symbolizes the status and position of the person who has been laid to rest or the focus could be the strength and adornment shown to the deceased by the figures who surround the tomb and protect it. The Crouching Boy is an unfinished work by Michelangelo and many have tried to guess what he was saying. It is in cubic form and seems constrained or could it be a wounded soldier or a spirit of mourning. (Hermitage Museum, 2006). We can only assume since the work is unfinished and their may be details that were not yet incorporated into the final sculpture.
All sculptures have amazing detail. The PietД has great detail in the clothing worn by Mary, showing each fold of the fabric and is hard to imagine that this is a marble sculptures since the clothing seems to flow as if it is really cloth. The Crouching Boy, even though unfinished, shows great detail of the human structure.