Michaelangelo\'s Moses Roman Catholic Church Art Rome Italy Bronze Marble Statue
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Michaelangelo\'s Moses Roman Catholic Church Art Rome Italy Bronze Marble Statue:
$169.00
You are offerding on Beautiful BronzeStatue of Michaelangelo\'s Mosesin excellent condition. The Original Statue is the Centerpiece of thefamous tomb of Pope Julius II, placed in the Church of San Pietro in Vicoli (Saint Peter in Chains) is a Roman Catholic Titular Church and Minor Basilica in Rome Italy The statue is real bronze, not a resin, plaster or plastic mixture.
Statue measures 13\" x 8\" x 7\" (32cm x 19cm x 17cm)
Statue shipping weight:16 lbs(7 kg)
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The Church of St Peter in Chains
Rome: Michaelangelo\'s Moses
Around 1505 Pope Julius II, an important patron of Michelangelo\'s, commissioned the 30 year old sculptor to design and execute the pope\'s sepluchre. The original design, as described by narratives of Condivi and Vasari, called for a rectangular ground plan on which a four-sided structure would be erected. The design incorporated pilasters, cornices and niches in which statues would be placed to represent the fine arts and the sciences. At the four corners, above the cornice, would be placed four very large marble figures representing active life, contemplative life, St Paul, and Moses. Topping off the whole structure would be a statue of the pope, whose body would rest inside the tomb. The planned size and ambitious decoration seemed set to create a new standard for funerary art.
However, Michelangelo was soon diverted from the monumental project -- and from his first love of sculpting -- to painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. When the pope died in 1513, his heirs asked that he be interred in a simpler, less expensive tomb, one that could be completed quickly. What Michelangelo eventually called \"the tragedy of the tomb\" came to a close in 1545 when a much smaller version of the tomb was installed in the Church of St Peter in Chains, rather than in St Peter\'s, as first planned. Figures Michelangelo sculpted for the mausoleum were been dispersed. Most famously, of four slave figures sculpted for the lowest level, two are now in Florence and two are in Paris.
The monument is not free-standing, but is attached to one wall. And it is called the Tomb of Pope Julius II, even though his body actually rests at St Peter\'s.
What we see at St Peter in Chains, then, is a much scaled-down version of the artist\'s design in which Michelangelo\'s intention is further thwarted by the placement of the Moses figure: instead of looking virtually across at Moses, we are meant to be gazing upwards.
From this vantage point, though, visitors can look for the chip on Moses\' knee which was, according to one story, the result of Michelangelo\'s hurling his chisel at the statue. The artist, in awe of the life-like qualities that emerged from the marble as he worked, is said to have thrown the chisel and screamed at the statue, \"Perché non parli? (Why don\'t you talk?)\"
It is a powerful figure, even viewed only in photographs. And the dimensions are impressive, as well: the height measures 7 feet 8 1/2 inches; width of base at the front is 3 feet 1 1/2 inches; the base is 3 feet 3 3/4 inches deep.
One interesting bit of Hollywood trivia: Cecil B. deMille is said to have been persuaded to cast Charlton Heston as Moses in his movie-epic, The Ten Commandments, based on Heston\'s purported physical resemblance to Michelangelo\'s Moses.
What of the interesting facial features on this Moses? Some think that, in the beard, a silhouette of Michelangelo is visible.
The horns have elicited various interpretations. The likeliest explanation is that Michelangelo relied on Jerome\'s vulgate translation of the Old Testament. In this commonly available version, the \"rays of light\" that were seen around Moses\' face after his meeting with God on Mt Sinai were expressed as horns. Some people believe that Jerome\'s intention was to express a metaphor for the glory of God reflected from Moses\'s face.
Although it is difficult to see in these illustrations, some of the beard\'s great detail has been blurred by generations of pious visitors running a respectful hand across the marble. The advent of enhanced digital imaging may enable development of images that will show the beard as Michelangelo sculpted it. As shown in the top illustration, today the sculpture is protected from its -- and Moses\'s -- admirers by a low fence.
Sigmund Freud wrote several essays about Moses and one essay devoted to his thoughts about this sculpture, The Moses of Michelangelo. Freud first visited in Rome in September, 1901 and saw the statue in the Church of St Peter in Chains. On subsequent visits to Rome, which usually occurred in late summer, he made a point of going to see \"his\" Moses.
Eventually Freund confided to friends his interest in writing about the compelling statue. Anonymously in 1914 he published a paper in the psycholanalytic journal Imago. Although many people seemed to know to whom the work belonged, he did not acknowledge his authorship of the paper until 1924. The drawing at left is one of several that illustrate the essay, which is filled with meticulous observations about various aspects of the by Turbo Lister
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Michaelangelo\'s Moses Roman Catholic Church Art Rome Italy Bronze Marble Statue:
$169.00