Mary's Gift

Last week we studied religious art and architecture in a city filled with examples of every style and form from the last several thousand years. We were blessed to be able to walk through St. Peter's Basilica with art historian and author Dr. Elizabeth Lev.

As we reflected on the Pieta by Michelangelo, Liz helped us to recall that this was one of Michelangelo's first works that was originally commissioned to be a part of a funeral monument. He made some very dramatic choices in how he depicted the Pieta.

The image of the Pieta had been common in Germany and Spain in the Gothic period before Michelangelo, but it had always focused on the gruesome death of Christ and the anguish of Mary.

German Pieta

Michelangelo did not carve Mary to look like the mother of a man in his thirties. He carved Mary to look like the young girl who had encountered the Archangel Gabriel at the Annunciation. When asked about her face he said that pure women never age.

Close Up of Mary's Face in Michelangelo's Pieta

As you look at her face it is not covered in the grief and anguish of a mother who has lost her son, but it is a face that says,"Let it be done to me according to your word."

It is important to note that the sculpture was originally located above an altar. As the priest, facing the altar, held up the Host and said,"this is my body which will be given up for you", all would have been facing the image of Mary offering the body of her son.

Michelangelo carved the image in such a way that the body of Jesus is smooth and shines out of the midst of Mary's garments. Her left hand is letting go of the body of her son and it would have looked like it was about to fall onto the altar.

Before the Archangel Gabriel and at the foot of the cross, Mary was saying yes. Her gift to us was her yes which remained yes all the way to the end.