Visceral Response

I chose this sculpture for my Visceral Response.  First off something you need to understand about me is I love the Arts.  I love the sculptures, paintings, carvings, photographs, music, everything art, so It was difficult for me to find a specific art piece to show.  As a little girl I would experience the same love for these works that I feel today.  I remember looking at art pieces and being in complete awe.  I would wonder how they did what they did, looking at the precision of the lines in a painting and the realistic look of softness in a sculpture.  It made me want to test my abilities and replicate what I saw even at that young age.  That response stayed with me, my entire life.  I always knew what I wanted to do, even with people telling me there is no business in art, but that passion never left me. 

The reason why I picked the Pieta by Michelangelo Buonarroti is to show one of the greats. I have yet to go visit this art piece and sadly anything in Europe.  I almost feel a duty, like it's a right of passage as an artist to see where it all started.  These artist would break the bonds of their era and make way for how Art is accepted today.  Michelangelo would step away from what was typical around that time period and do what he felt.  There was a meaning behind every detail and it showed beautifully in this work.

The elements of design of this piece are beautiful.  The texture is one that you might not think about since it is very smooth, but if you were to examine this closer you would see a lot.  The waves in the hair of the figure of Jesus is one.  Another would be the heavy drapery folds of the clothing.  In this picture you can't see the little details of wrinkles in the hands  giving texture.  Shape is a very important element shown in the Pieta.  If you look at the sculpture as a whole, you can see it is in the shape of a triangle.  That gives unity to the piece and a sense of harmony.  Lines is another element.  It gives direction and guides you throughout the piece.  Even subtle line of the sash across the Virgin Mary's chest leads you to the figure of Jesus. Even though the sculpture doesn't have color, it does have value. A white Carrara Marble was used to show the best likeness to skin, so the artist had to create shadows to show depth to the piece.  You can see this with the deep folds in the clothing, around the figure of Jesus and the neck of Mary.  Even with these deep shadows, the artist was still able to keep the light on the face of Mary and the body of Christ.