Madonna and Child (Madonna of Bruges) (1504)
“And in addition, he made a bronze tondo with the Mother of God, cast by him at the order of the Flemish merchants Moscheroni, very noble persons in their area, so that they, having paid him one hundred crowns for it, could send this tondo to Flanders” Vasari.
Returning to Florence, after “David,” Michelangelo created the so-called “Madonna of Bruges,” a small (1.27 m high) sculptural group of the Madonna and Child, finishing it in 1504. Subsequently, the statue ended up in the Notre Dame church in the Dutch city of Bruges.
In type, this young, gentle, pensive Madonna is reminiscent of the Madonna of Lamentation from St. Peter's Cathedral. In this modest work, which reveals a line of images in Michelangelo’s work, marked by features of a peculiar lyricism, Madonna herself is especially attractive, in which classical beauty and inner strength personalities are combined with soft poetry and nobility. You can feel the hand of the master who sculpted the Roman Pietà in it.
The Madonna and Child from Bruges is one of Michelangelo's most beautiful and spiritual Madonnas. A sad woman, chosen and doomed, she foresees her son's suffering on the cross. “That’s why she resisted, did not want to let go of this beautiful, strong and agile boy, who grabbed her protecting hand with his little hand. And that’s why she covered her son with the edge of her cloak. The boy, sensing his mother’s mood, also had sadness hidden in his eyes. He was full of strength and courage, soon he would jump off his mother’s lap and leave this safe refuge, but now, at this moment, he grabbed his mother’s hand with one hand and pressed the other to her thigh. Perhaps he is thinking now about her, about his mother, saddened by the inevitable separation: her son, so trustingly clinging to his knees, will soon wander the world alone.” Stone Irving.
The Virgin Mary turned out to be alive and believable, tender and pure. One moment more, and the eyelids will tremble, the hand will pick up the child, the chest will inhale. She is alive, she feels. The master no longer idealized Mary’s face, as in early works. Having created the Roman “Pieta” and “David”, he is looking for feeling, believability: modest clothes with flowing folds outline the strong body of a young mother, a face with heavy eyelids from unshed tears, a long nose, thick hair in a simple hairstyle, covered with a heavy hood, as this piece recalls the Pietà. The baby's body, although childish, gives a feeling of hidden power, but is childishly cute - plump cheeks and chin, curly head. At his mother’s knees, holding her hand, he feels protected and ready to explore the world. The position of the bodies of the sculptural group is very natural - what could be more plausible than the Mother and Child from Bruges?
Sculptural images of the Madonna “Tondo Tadei” and “Tondo Pitti” (1503-1505)
“Then he began, but did not finish, two marble tondos, one for Taddeo Taddei, the one that is now in his house, and the other he began for Bartolomeo Pitti, the one that Fra Miniato Pitti of Monte Oliveto, a man of understanding and extremely knowledgeable in cosmography and many other sciences, and especially in painting, gave it to Luigi Guicciardini, with whom he was in great friendship; These works were considered excellent and marvelous. At the same time he began a marble statue of St. Matthew for the guardianship of Santa Maria del Fiore; This unfinished statue testifies to his perfect skill and teaches other sculptors how to carve statues from marble without disfiguring them, so that when removing marble you can always gain something and so that if necessary, as it happens, then or remove or change the other” Vasari.
After the Madonna of Bruges, the theme of the Madonna and Child occupied Michelangelo in the future. Between 1503--1508 he executed two marble bas-reliefs depicting the Madonna, the Child Christ and the little John the Baptist. Both compositions of these reliefs are inscribed in a circle (in Italian “tondo”), but in mood and character they are completely different. - “Madonna Tadei” (1503-1505, Royal Academy of Arts, London) - “Madonna Pitti” (1504-1505, Bargello, Florence).
Two tondos depicting the Mother of God and the Child emerge from the plane of the relief; when looking at them, one gets the impression of full-volume sculptures. They clearly demonstrate his characteristic feature of working with marble. Michelangelo does not strive to give equal completeness to all parts of the relief, to all its details. He leaves the marble block almost unprocessed, as if unfinished. It preserves the texture of the stone in certain places, receiving an additional effect from various treatments of the marble surface.
“Bartolomeo Pitti’s Madonna” is made in the form of a tondo, a concave saucer, in contrast to the gentle and lyrical “Taddeo Taddei Madonna” it contains an image full of grandeur and monumentality. “Madonna Pitti” echoes one of Raphael’s Madonnas of the mature Roman period - “Madonna in the Armchair”. Like Raphael, the Madonna occupies a dominant place in Michelangelo’s composition. She seems cramped in the allotted space, her head protrudes beyond the circle. Looking up from her reading, she looks away, immersed in her inner world. The figurine of John the Baptist barely protrudes from the background, balancing this beautiful composition in its complex harmony and completeness. In the central figure of the composition - Mary sitting on a stone - is made most convex. Leaning on the open book on her lap, the Child Jesus, bowing his curly head, looks carefully into the book. John the Baptist, looking over the shoulder of the Mother of God, is located on the edge of the tondo, the least voluminous, barely visible against the background of unpolished marble.
In the faces and figures of Mary and the Child, the features of the “Madonna of Bruges” are clearly visible - the same maturity, spirituality, sadness and... doom.
In contrast, another tondo, the Taddei Madonna, exudes cheerfulness. This tondo is one of Michelangelo’s rare lyrical genre solutions. A young mother, smiling thoughtfully, looks at her children playing. John the Baptist hands the goldfinch to the Baby Jesus, and he, in fright, seeks protection from his mother, dodges, stretching out on Mary’s lap diagonally, across the entire plane of the tondo. The baby occupies the central place, while Mary is pushed into the depths of the concave tondo. The three figures are set against a background of rough-hewn marble, even coarser-grained than that of the Pitti Madonna, as if Michelangelo was trying to convey a desert feel.
The motif of this bas-relief echoes Raphael’s painting “Madonna with the Goldfinch” and is even close to it in mood. But instead of Raphael’s stable pyramidal composition, Michelangelo gives a dynamic, rhythmically complex structure, inscribing figures in a circle. With greater detail and central position, it highlights the figurine of the infant Christ. The softly modeled Madonna and Baptist are lightly shaded, their figures barely protruding from the tongue-and-groove background.
In cities as ancient and untouched by time as Bruges, life is like a dream. Therefore, being in Bruges and dreaming about it are almost the same thing. However, only after getting to know this amazing city in person do you begin to understand why the great aesthetes of the early twentieth century were able to endure life exclusively in Bruges. One of the main attractions of the city, which in itself is one big attraction, is the Cathedral Church of Our Lady. The massive structure, piercing its long spire into the postcard Flemish sky, amazes with its diversity architectural styles, which it has absorbed over the 200-year history of construction.
The history of the Church of Our Lady begins no less than in the 9th century, when a small chapel was built outside the city rampart. Then it was replaced romanesque basilica, and construction of the modern Gothic Church of Our Lady began in 1220. However, its 122-meter tower remains to this day the tallest brick building in Belgium. An eclectic mixture of styles is characteristic of all Flemish churches that were built before the second half XVI century. The soaring Gothic exterior of the cathedral blends harmoniously with the interior, designed in Baroque style interspersed with Rococo or Romanesque style. The reasons for this should be sought in the history of iconoclasm, as a result of which it was destroyed interior decoration almost all the churches in those places. They were restored much later, when the world was ruled by Baroque.
Behind the powerful walls of the Church of Our Lady is one of the most beautiful sculptures on earth - the famous “Madonna and Child,” which was created by the great Michelangelo in 1505 and became the only work of the author that left Italy during the creator’s lifetime.
1501-1503. Gallery Vrouwekerk, Bruges. Michelangelo Buonarroti
The height of the sculpture is 128 cm, marble. Michelangelo Buonarroti depicted classic version Our Lady with the Child Christ. This type of idealization has been used by many other artists. In addition, Michelangelo was an ardent admirer of Dante. At the beginning of St. Bernard's prayer in the last canzone Divine Comedy It says: “Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo figlio” - “Our Lady, daughter of her Son.” The sculptor found perfect way to express this medieval theological thought in stone.
Extraordinary beautiful woman, on whose face one can read the mother’s pain. A mother who knows that in a few years her beloved son will have to atone for the sins of humanity in terrible agony. Truly, only a genius can create so many emotions on a block of icy marble. Michelangelo's sculpture alone deserves to call the Church of Our Lady in Bruges a major Belgian landmark. But the wealth of the Flemish merchants knew no bounds, so here you can also see the magnificent paintings of Peter Paul Rubens decorating the choir. In addition, in the Church of Our Lady there are two of the most luxurious sarcophagi in Europe in the flaming Gothic style, which belong to the last Burgundian rulers of the Valois family - Charles the Bold and his daughter Mary, during whose reign Bruges reached the peak of its greatness.
Michelangelo Buonarroti. Biography. “The Descent from the Cross.” "Madonna of Bruges". “Madonna and Child.” Tondo “Madonna Doni”. Tomb of Pope Julius II.
There are many mysteries in the history of art. One of them was Michelangelo Buonarroti's unfinished painting "The Removal c cross”, which has long caused fierce controversy. Experts agreed that it corresponded to the early style of Michelangelo, but doubt remained whether it belonged to the brush of the master himself or was still a talented fake.
In 1981, all disputes were put to an end thanks to the discovery of documents proving that in 1500 Michelangelo accepted an order to create an altar image for the Roman church of San Agostino. In 1501, without completing the work, he left for Florence and subsequently returned the money received for the painting.
in the photo:Michelangelo Buonarroti.Tondo "Madonna"Pitti"
Life in hometown by that time it had stabilized. In 1498, as a result of the intrigues of Florentine leaders and the papal throne, the turbulent life of Savanarola and his two followers ended terrible death(they were burned in Piazza della Signoria). Centuries have passed, taking away old passions and enmity. Only memory remains. Today in Florence the streets of Michelangelo and Torrigiano, who disfigured him and after his expulsion became famous sculptor, lie very close, and the Florentines annually sprinkle the site of Savanarola’s death not even with roses, but with rose petals.
End XV century is significant for world art and Michelangelo with the creation of the legendary “David”.
Read more about the masterpiece of world sculpture, the “David” statue, on portal 2 queens. ru.
After David, Michelangelo created a small (1.27 meters high) sculptural group of the Madonna and Child, which he completed in 1504. This is one of Michelangelo's most believable, tender and spiritual Madonnas. The “Madonna of Bruges” is named after the Dutch city of Bruges, the former center of the Northern Renaissance, where it still adorns Notre Dame Cathedral.
“Tondo” is the name given to a round-shaped painting or relief. The famous tondo “Madonna Doni” is not quite a tondo; this work by Michelangelo is slightly larger in height than in width. It got its name in honor of Agnolo Doni, a prosperous Florentine weaver who commissioned the painting for his wedding. The original frame was probably designed by Michelangelo himself. Tondo Doni is the only completed and extant painting by the artist on wood.
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| Michelangelo Buonarroti.Tondo "Madonna Doni" |
Michelangelo's interest in painting begins with the "Madonna Doni", but it should be noted that, while performing paintings, he thinks like a sculptor: he created the picture in full agreement with his early reliefs “Tondo Tadei” and “Tondo Pitti”.
Michelangelo comes to realize the possibilities of painting, which can not only repeat sculpture, but also convey such complex positions of bodies that are not available in sculpture. This was the beginning of the journey to painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
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| Michelangelo Buonarroti.Tondo "Madonna of Tadei" |
In 1505, Michelangelo urgently left Florence for Rome. The reasons for this urgency lay in the latest changes in political life in Italy: Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, a representative of an impoverished aristocratic family, ascended the papal throne. He began his rise in the Catholic hierarchy in 1471, when his uncle was elected pope under the name Sixtus IV . Giuliano chose the papal name Julius because all his life he tried to imitate the military genius of Julius Caesar. Like other pontiffs of that time, Pope Julius was not only a religious figure, but also a military leader. During his pontificate, the warlike Julius II personally led the papal troops in a number of military campaigns and managed to annex a large territory in northern Italy to the papal state. This pope also became famous for his philanthropy.
Michelangelo's fame reached Rome. At this time, the position of chief architect of the Vatican was held by the Florentine Giuliano da Sangallo, a friend of Michelangelo, who actively recruited his fellow countrymen to serve the pope. Michelangelo also received an invitation on behalf of the pope to come to Rome. The Pope decided to ensure his immortality with the help of a brilliant sculptor - he ordered Michelangelo to build a tomb. One could only dream of such an order: regardless of the capabilities of the depleted treasury, the pope provided Michelangelo with unlimited funds and materials and promised not to constrain his creative imagination.
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| Michelangelo Buonarroti. Tomb of Pope Julius II |
Michelangelo set to work energetically; he went to the quarries of Carrara, where c two assistants spent more than eight months selecting marble for the tomb. The amount of extracted marble, from which Michelangelo planned to sculpt 40 sculptures, amazed all of Rome: it took (!) 70 carts to transport it. But in Rome, Michelangelo received unpleasant news - during the sculptor’s absence, Pope Julius lost interest in this project and stopped funding the work. The offended Michelangelo immediately left Rome for Florence, without even saying goodbye to Pope Julius. The Pope sent him in pursuit demanding that he return. But (unheard of impudence in those days!), Michelangelo refused. Papa Julius II wanted to return Michelangelo to Rome at any cost, threatened, insisted. And after long negotiations in Bologna, their reconciliation took place.
As a sign of reconciliation, Michelangelo accepted an order to make a statue of the pope for the church of San Petronio. A statue of the pope was placed on the façade of the church in Bologna, which the pope annexed to his domain. But when Bologna regained its independence, the statue suffered a sad fate: it was melted down, and “the bronze was sold to Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, who poured a cannon out of it and named it Julia.” (Vasari)
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| Michelangelo Buonarroti."Descent from the Cross" |
The collapse of plans related to the tomb of Pope Julius II , plunged Michelangelo into deep depression. “In this tomb I buried my youth,” he wrote sadly in 1542. In 1513, dad died, and a long-term lawsuit began between the artist and a relative of the deceased. The contract for the tomb was concluded 6 times over 37 years, until finally the monument was installed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli. In 1545, Michelangelo finally finished work on the tomb, but it was only a pale shadow of the original plan.
Read more about Michelangelo's works in our following materials.
photos from websites : newliturgicalmovement.org, princeamsterdam.blogspot.com, flickriver.com, myartprints.com, artmight.com, italian-renaissance-art.com
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Sculptural composition The Madonna and Child Christ, later called the Madonna of Bruges, was the only statue by Michelangelo to leave Italy during his lifetime.
Initially this marble statue, created Italian genius at the very beginning of the 16th century, shortly after the completion of the Vatican Pietà, it was intended for a niche above the main altar in the Siena chapel of Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini, which explains some of the disproportion of the sculpture and the downward views of the Virgin and Child. However, during the process of work, disagreements arose between the sculptor and the customer - Michelangelo fundamentally wanted to sculpt the baby Jesus naked, while the cardinal considered this unacceptable. As a result, thanks to the mediation of Michelangelo's friend, banker Giovani Balducci, the owners of the statue became influential merchants from Bruges - Jan and Alexander Muscrone (in Italian pronunciation Moscheroni). In 1506, the sculptural composition left Italy to be presented by merchants as a gift to the Bruges Church of Our Lady.
The small statue, whose height is only 128 centimeters, was placed in a black marble niche in the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, and in 1768 the composition was supplemented by two side sculptures (by Peter Peters), allegorically representing Faith and Hope. Over the course of several centuries, the “Madonna of Bruges” left the capital of West Flanders twice: after French Revolution, when all of Europe was in a fever, and in 1944, when the Germans retreating from the city were able to take out the statue under mattresses in a Red Cross truck. However, at the end of World War II, “Madonna” returned to its place. After a fanatic attacked the Vatican Pietà in 1972 (the maniac damaged the sculpture with a hammer), the Bruges authorities decided to protect their statue with bulletproof glass.
“Madonna of Bruges” deviates from generally accepted standards in many respects church canons of that time: pensive, as if immersed in her thoughts, the Mother of God does not press her son to her, her gaze is directed to the side. The classical beauty of her young face is marked by subtle poetry, lyricism and deep sorrow, as if the mother had already revealed the sufferings of the cross destined for her son. American writer Irving Stone in his famous novel“Torment and Joy,” dedicated to the life and work of Michelangelo, describes the statue as follows: “That is why she resisted, did not want to let go of this beautiful, strong and agile boy, who grabbed her protecting hand with his little hand. And that’s why she covered her son with the edge of her cloak. The boy, sensing his mother’s mood, also had sadness hidden in his eyes. He was full of strength and courage, soon he would jump off his mother’s lap and leave this safe refuge, but now, at this moment, he grabbed his mother’s hand with one hand and pressed the other to her thigh. Perhaps he is thinking now about her, about his mother, saddened by the inevitable separation: her son, so trustingly clinging to his knees, will soon wander alone in the world.”
It seems that Mary’s eyelids are about to tremble, her chest, covered with the flowing folds of her clothes, will sigh, the baby Jesus will take his first independent step, in whose entire appearance one can already feel the hidden power... “Madonna of Bruges” is one of the most believable, inspired, “living” works of the great Michelangelo.
Michelangelo Buonarroti.Madonna of Bruges. 1501-1504 Madonna di Bruges
Height 128. Church of Our Lady, Bruges
“Madonna of Bruges” is a marble statue of the Madonna and Child Christ, 128 cm high, made by Michelangelo Buonarroti in 1501-04. shortly after the completion of the Vatican Pietà. This is the only statue of Michelangelo, which, during his lifetime, was taken from Italy to decorate the Church of Notre Dame in the city of Bruges.
The composition was commissioned from Michelangelo by Cardinal Piccolomini. But during the work, disagreements arose. Michelangelo fundamentally wanted to sculpt the baby Jesus naked, while the cardinal considered this unacceptable.
Disagreements led to the cardinal apparently abandoning the sculpture...
A merchant from Bruges, Mouscron (Moscheroni), who once visited Michelangelo in his workshop, decided to buy the sculpture. Michelangelo did not want the sculpture to leave Italy and set an incredibly high price for those times of 100 ducats, but the merchant paid. At the end of 1506, the sculpture was transported to Bruges.
The statue, probably originally intended for a church altar, deviates from church canons in many respects. Madonna does not hug her son to her and does not even look at him, her gaze is directed to the side, as if the fate destined for him had been revealed to her. Christ, it seems, is ready to leave his mother and enter the world of people.
In this modest work, which reveals a line of images in Michelangelo’s work, marked by features of a peculiar lyricism, Madonna herself is especially attractive, in which classical beauty and inner strength of personality are combined with soft poetry and nobility. You can feel the hand of the master who sculpted the Roman Pietà in it.
The Madonna and Child from Bruges is one of Michelangelo's most beautiful and spiritual Madonnas. A sad woman, chosen and doomed, she foresees her son's suffering on the cross. Her gaze is directed into the distance, an expression of inescapable sadness is frozen on her face. The Baby, cheerful and inquisitive, with a large curly head, evokes completely different feelings. With her childish spontaneity and serenity, she seems to emphasize the immensity of her mother’s future grief.
STONE IRVING.
“That’s why she resisted, did not want to let go of this beautiful, strong and agile boy, who grabbed her protecting hand with his little hand. And that’s why she covered her son with the edge of her cloak. The boy, sensing his mother’s mood, also had sadness hidden in his eyes.
He was full of strength and courage, soon he would jump off his mother’s lap and leave this safe refuge, but now, at this moment, he grabbed his mother’s hand with one hand and pressed the other to her thigh. Perhaps he is thinking now about her, about his mother, saddened by the inevitable separation: her son, so trustingly clinging to his knees, will soon wander the world alone.” Stone Irving.
The master no longer idealized Mary’s face, as in his earlier works. Having created the Roman “Pieta” and “David”, he is looking for a feeling, believability: modest clothes with flowing folds outline the strong body of a young mother, a face with heavy eyelids from unshed tears, a long nose, thick hair in a simple hairstyle covered with a heavy hood, as this work reminds "Pieta."
The baby's body, although childish, gives a feeling of hidden power, but is childishly cute - plump cheeks and chin, curly head. At his mother’s knees, holding her hand, he feels protected and ready to explore the world. The position of the bodies of the sculptural group is very natural - what could be more plausible than the Mother and Child from Bruges?