MICHELANGELOBUONARROTI · 1475–1564
THE ART OF BECOMING / His craft FOLIO 04 — 07

03 / MATERIAL & IMAGINATION

The mind. The hand. The medium.

Different materials.
The same relentless curiosity.

Michelangelo’s marble Pietà, with Mary holding Christ and deeply folded drapery, in St. Peter’s Basilica.

SCULPTURE

Finding life within the stone.

Hard marble becomes yielding flesh, folded cloth, and held breath. In the Pietà, the contrast between polished skin and deeply cut drapery gives a single block of stone extraordinary tenderness.

Beyond the canvas, beyond the stone. Michelangelo also shaped architectural space. His work on St. Peter’s Basilica brought a sculptor’s sense of mass and movement to the skyline of Rome.

Discover St. Peter’s
Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam fresco, showing Adam and God reaching toward one another on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

THE SISTINE CHAPEL · VATICAN CITY

A moment of creation.
Centuries of wonder.

The Creation of Adam, c. 1511 · Detail

Upper-body detail of Michelangelo’s marble David, with turned head and raised hand, at the Galleria dell’Accademia.
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Medium
Collection
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YOUR ENCOUNTER WITH MICHELANGELO

Where will art take you?

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FLORENCE, ITALY

Galleria dell’Accademia

See David and the unfinished Prisoners. The official visitor page provides current admission details and booking options.

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