Pietà van Michelangelo in de Sint-Pietersbasiliek te Vaticaanstad, Italië 1851 - 1890

Curator: This gelatin-silver print, taken sometime between 1851 and 1890, offers a photographic view of Michelangelo’s Pietà located in Saint Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Editor: It's ethereal, almost ghostly, isn’t it? That soft, sepia tone gives the marble an uncanny pallor, enhancing the feeling of profound sorrow and… what is it? Almost unnerving tranquility. Curator: Indeed. The image itself is by an anonymous photographer. But let’s remember the subject is the sculpture by Michelangelo, completed around 1499. A pivotal work of the Italian Renaissance. It immediately cemented Michelangelo's status. Editor: It's crazy to think a young man, I think he was in his early twenties when he finished this thing, could capture so much tenderness with a chisel! You feel it, you know? The weight of Christ’s body, the maternal grief... it's heartbreaking. Did they understand back then the art would trigger these feeling even centuries later? Curator: That's a pertinent point. What’s remarkable is the intentional universal appeal Michelangelo crafted within the specific religious narrative. By stripping away many of the overtly theatrical displays of grief, popular at the time, Michelangelo makes the emotion felt, internal, timeless. He was very calculating like that, considering the piece from the very beginning in relation to his own standing within art history. Editor: He was showing off and he delivered. Even through the distance of a photograph, centuries later, you feel you’re gazing at something sacred. It makes you want to reach out and touch it...to feel its chill and maybe understand a sliver of that moment. That's powerful art, or perhaps even, powerfully marketed art? I find myself in a difficult position trying to tell. Curator: It's hard to ignore both dimensions. This photographic print serves as its own artifact of cultural and artistic reverence; of how Michelangelo’s work was seen even then. It became instantly iconic, which explains why some artist sought out early reproduction methods such as photographs to try to distribute its reach to audiences. Editor: Right, something intimate shared in a grand public sphere. Something powerful remains in this photo – an echo of the master's intent mixed with a little melancholy from history itself. A cool mix indeed!