o [Michelangelo's] Early Renaissance forebears - Verrocchio and Jacopo della Quercia - and of course this is still, chronologically a work of the Quattrocento. Highly finished and polished, it shows a Quattrocento love of detail; linear drapery folds pile up in ornamental abundance" (46)Two items are peculiar about the Michelangelo's Pieta, Mary's youthful face and the artist's signature, which is found only on the Pieta. Common knowledge shows that the artist gave Mary a youthful face because women retain their beauty longer if they are virgins, and perhaps Michelangelo sensed his great accomplishment and felt proud to chisel his name on the work; certainly, it was fitting for such an immaculate work of art. The Pieta is considered untouchable by today's art world; a work that will never be duplicated. Michelangelo's Pieta is one of the most notable works of all time.When Michelangelo moved back to Florence, Italy, the artist created one of his most recognizable sculptures, the David. Unlike most works of David, which show the young boy after his victory over Goliath, Michelangelo's David is shown right before battle. The statue is overwhelmingly beautiful, with an athletic body and powerful, masculine hands. But, the most notable feature of the gigantic statue is it's magnificent head and face. David's eyes are large and hypnotic, the eyes alone give onlookers the tense mood of the boy about kill or be killed. Experts say that the David's face is actually Michelangelo's projection of his own "troubled ambition" (Hibbard 61). Hibbard also claims that Michelangelo's intention of David's torso was a version of a "Hellenistic athlete - powerful and occasionally knotty, full of observed detail..." (61). Artists who influenced Michelangelo's David are Nicola Pisano and Donatello. Michelangelo, himself, could have easily been considered an influence in the David. A drawing that Michelangelo made had an interesting poem by the ar...
