The display of Michelangelo’s first contribution to St Peter’s, the Pietà, within the gigantic basilica which he himself designed much later in his remarkably long career, has long posed something of a problem.
The statue is a profoundly intimate piece of work; in its original location in the old St Peter’s, it was much closer to the floor, and one could get much closer to it. However, unlike other versions of the same motif, including the three later ones done by Michelangelo himself, this one looks forward to the Resurrection, rather than backwards to the sufferings of Christ. The graceful position of His body makes it look as if He is only sleeping, as indeed, His death is like sleep, which is to say, temporary. Where His skin is exposed, Michelangelo did the brightest polishing job of his life; we see Christ already transfigured and glorified in the Resurrection.
