Florentine Pieta

I was finally able to give my presentation to my class about Michelangelo's unfinished sculptures. His non-finito.  I loved the research for this subject, but this  presentation was almost 1/3 of my grade so there was some pressure to perform well. I felt good about it. When I was done with my presentation one of my class members asked me what piece was my favorite.  It's this one.

The Florentine Pieta was not a commissioned piece but done by Michelangelo for his own funeral marker. (His self portrait is the male figure in the back.) He did this when he was 75 years old, having lived twice as long as most of his contemporaries. During his career he started some 42 marble sculptures but finished just 18 of them. In the case of this pieta (which indicates the sorrowful moment of taking Christ down off the cross.) Michelangelo attempted to create a huge four figure composition out of one piece of marble.  Something that was not attempted during the 16th century because of its technical difficulty.  This was one of the traits through out his life though.  It was said that his ideas would go beyond the ability of his hands to accomplish them. He was famous for this.  I haven't been able to verify it, but Michelangelo has been credited with saying, "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short, but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." That is why this piece is one of my favorites.  It's not the end result that is the goal, but the process and attempt we make at reaching our potential.