Madonna of the Stairs

Madonna of the Stairs
Italian: Madonna della Scala

Artist	Michelangelo
Year	c. 1491
Type	Marble
Dimensions	56.7 cm × 40.1 cm (22.3 in × 15.8 in)
Location	Casa Buonarroti

The Madonna of the Stairs (or Madonna of the Steps) is a relief sculpture by Michelangelo in the Casa Buonarroti, Florence. It was sculpted around 1491, when Michelangelo was about seventeen. This and the Battle of the Centaurs were Michelangelo's first two sculptures. The first reference to the Madonna of the Stairs as a work by Michelangelo was in the 1568 edition of Giorgio Vasari's Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects.^[1]

Description

The work is an obvious homage to stiacciato of Donatello , as Vasari also noted, both in technique and sizes plans with millimeter thickness variations, both in iconography, starting from the scale pattern with pronounced steps and handrails foreshortened, visible for example in the Feast of Herod in Lille , smashing spatially opening a path of dramatic vanishing.

The figure of the Madonna , sitting on a square stone, and in profile while looking away, occupies the entire height of the relief, from edge to edge, with a severity and monumentality reminiscent of the classic rods. Very original is the composition of the sacred group, at the same time blocked and dynamic, with the Virgin and upright and keep him away gaze, in a prophetic attitude, as she lifts her dress to feed or protect the child asleep, and generates a movement spiral thanks to the arrangement in opposite limb: Jesus has indeed let go of his arm behind his back and Maria comes to weave his feet, showing the right plant and breaking the stillness of the smooth surface of the bas-relief. The right hand of the Child turned out was later used more than once by the artist to symbolize the abandonment of the body in sleep or in death, as in the portrait of Lorenzo de 'Medici, Duke of Urbino or the Bandini Pietà and refers to ' Farnese Hercules (since by Michelangelo man is seen as Hercules).

Pronounced is the muscle of the Child and the taking of Mary, especially with large hands, thanks to the different treatment of the surfaces, make it appear vigorous simple, everyday gesture. Virtuoso is finally the fall of the drapery, especially on Cubic's seat, which follows form with great realism.

On the left, on the scale that gives its name to the survey, there are two putti just blanks in attitude dance or fight and another who, leaning on the handrail, tents, along with a fourth figure placed behind the Virgin, a drape. It is difficult to determine the significance of this background scene, perhaps a simple exercise in style or a tribute to dancing putti Donatello.

The work is inspired by the book Klimax tou Paradeisou (Ladder of Paradise) of John of the Ladder

References

↑ Madonna of the stairs in Casa Buonarroti Archived February 29, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.

External links

Media related to Madonna della Scala at Wikimedia Commons

Madonna of the Stairs - From the Official Site of Casa Buonarroti

Michelangelo

List of works
Key: *Attributed, †Lost

Sculptures

Florence, c. 1488–1492	†Head of a Faun Madonna of the Stairs Battle of the Centaurs Crucifix

Bologna, 1494–1495	Additions to the Arca di San Domenico (St Petronius, St Proclus, Angel)

Rome, 1496–1500	†Sleeping Cupid Bacchus †Standing Cupid Pietà

Florence, 1501–1505	David Madonna of Bruges Additions to the Piccolomini Altarpiece (Saints Peter, Paul, Pius and Gregory) Pitti Tondo Taddei Tondo St. Matthew

Tomb of Pope Julius II, 1505–1545	Moses Rebellious Slave Dying Slave Young Slave Bearded Slave Atlas Slave Awakening Slave The Genius of Victory Rachel Leah

Florence, 1516–1534	Christ Carrying the Cross Medici Chapel Giuliano de' Medici Night Day Dusk Dawn Medici Madonna Apollo Crouching Boy

Rome, 1534–1564	Brutus Florentine Pietà Palestrina Pietà Rondanini Pietà

Paintings

Panel paintings	The Torment of Saint Anthony Manchester Madonna The Entombment Doni Tondo †Leda and the Swan

Salone dei Cinquecento	†Battle of Cascina

Sistine Chapel	Ceiling The Last Judgment

Cappella Paolina	The Martyrdom of St Peter

Architecture

Florence	New Sacristy and Laurentian Library in the Basilica of San Lorenzo

Rome	Piazza del Campidoglio Palazzo Farnese St. Peter's Basilica San Giovanni dei Fiorentini Porta Pia Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

Works on paper	Study of a Kneeling Nude Girl for The Entombment Epifania

Milieu	Cecchino dei Bracci Tommaso dei Cavalieri Vittoria Colonna Ascanio Condivi Gherardo Perini Sebastiano del Piombo Febo di Poggio Luigi del Riccio

Related topics	Art patronage of Julius II Casa Buonarroti Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects Replicas of David Replicas of the Pietà

Wikimedia	Michelangelo at Wikimedia Commons Michelangelo at Wikiquote

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 23, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.