The Pietà, Michelangelo’s amazing marble statue of Mary, holding her son Jesus after the crucifixion, housed in the Vatican. I didn’t recognize what a great work this was when I first saw photos of it as a child. But I’ve seen it several times in person in the Vatican and it is stunning, jaw-dropping. Look at the folds of Mary’s garments, hanging so naturally you forget they’re carved out of stone. And look at her face, the blend of peace . . . and profound sadness. Look how she holds his weight with just one hand… for that moment, he is again… her baby.
But to see it closer, there’s so much more. Christ’s hand for instance. You can see “through” the “skin,” you can see the individual veins in his arm, the tendons, the creases of the skin on his knuckles, the cuticle on the nails, and of course the hole through his hand made by a Roman soldier hammering a spike through it.
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