Editing Pietà (Michelangelo) (section)

==History==
[[File:Pietà - Hallwylska museet - 107520.tif|thumb|The venerated image with its original canonical crown from 14 August 1637 by the Pontifical decree of [[Pope Urban VIII]]. Photo circa, 24 May 1888.]]
The statue was originally commissioned by the former [[Bishop of Condom]], Cardinal [[Jean Bilhères de Lagraulas|Jean de Villiers du Lagraulas]]. The sculpture was intended to be an [[altarpiece]] for his [[funeral chapel]] within [[Old Saint Peter's Basilica]]. The chapel of Saint Petronilla was later demolished and the sculpture was later moved to its current location, the first chapel on the north side after the entrance of the new basilica, in the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The History · The Vatican Pietà · Fordham Art History |url=https://michelangelo.ace.fordham.edu/exhibits/show/vatican-pieta/vatican-pieta-history |access-date=2019-09-03 |website=michelangelo.ace.fordham.edu}}</ref> It is the only piece Michelangelo ever [[Signature|signed]].

The structure is [[pyramid]]al, and the [[Vertex (geometry)|vertex]] coincides with Mary's head. The statue widens progressively down the drapery of Mary's dress, to the base, the rock of [[Golgotha]]. The figures are quite out of proportion, owing to the difficulty of depicting a fully-grown man cradled full-length in a woman's lap. Much of Mary's body is concealed by her monumental drapery, and the relationship of the figures appears quite natural. Michelangelo's interpretation of the ''Pietà'' was far different from those previously created by other artists, as he sculpted a young and beautiful Mary rather than a naturally older woman (aged 45+) that should be commensurate with the natural age of her son, Jesus (aged 33).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.voxmundi.eu/vatican-pieta-by-michelangelo-buonarroti/|title=Everything you need to know about Michelangelo Buonarroti's Pietà|date=2017-04-14|website=Official tourist service for Saint Peter's Basilica|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-03|archive-date=2019-09-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190903164329/https://www.voxmundi.eu/vatican-pieta-by-michelangelo-buonarroti/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The marks of the [[Crucifixion of Jesus|Crucifixion]] are limited to very small nail marks and an indication of the wound in Jesus' side. Accordingly, Christ's face does not reveal signs of [[Passion (Christianity)|the Passion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.romaviva.com/vaticano-castel-santangelo/pieta-michelangelo_eng.htm|title=Pietà by Michelangelo St. Peter in Vatican Rome|website=RomaViva.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618160925/http://www.romaviva.com/vaticano-castel-santangelo/pieta-michelangelo_eng.htm|archive-date=18 June 2018|access-date=2014-05-18}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=September 2019}} According to another interpretation, when Michelangelo set out to create his ''Pietà'', he wanted to create a work he described as "the heart's image".<ref>{{Cite book|last=McNeese|first=Tim|title=Michelangelo: Painter, Sculptor, and Architect|url=https://archive.org/details/michelangelo00mcne|url-access=limited|year=2005|pages=[https://archive.org/details/michelangelo00mcne/page/n48 43]|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers | isbn=9780791086278 }}</ref>

Two drilled holes are located at the top head of the Virgin Mary, which once supported the bar holding two levitating angels, while another hole is located at the tophead of the Christ image.