ICONOGRAPHY OF THE PIETA.
The Pieta statue by the
renaissance sculptor Michael Angelo completed in (1499), which resides in St
Peters basilica in Rome, is one of the most revered and iconographic works of
Western Art. Even for the non-believer or for those who practise religious
faiths other than Christianity, the work has the power to evoke feeling of
reverence and contemplation in the viewer. The Pieta inhabits a building that
by the very nature of its design and construction was created to produce
feelings of awe and wonder for those who entered it. Within its walls the
viewer was would see works of art within
Architecture that would
create an aura of devotion and reverence.
It could reasonable be argued that even
in what has been described as a post Christian age these works of art still
have the power to create feelings as described above to present day visitor to
St Peters basilica.
A very casual investigation of present
day culture of present day visual culture, provides many present day examples
of imagery that have very close iconographical links with the symbolism of the
Pieta, some of these links are of an accidental nature and many are created and
designed to create these very definite connotations.
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