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1556 Black chalk and white lead on paper, 412 x 279 mm British Museum, London The drawings Michelangelo did for his own personal use show us better than any of these other works something of the artist's development during his last years. The last of the six drawings of Crucifixions, depicting Christ on the cross between the Virgin and Saint John, is probably to be dated to 1556. This shows us, once again, those same ideas which had tormented the artist during his work on the PieteRondanini: "Oh! Flesh, Blood and Wood, supreme pain, Through you must I suffer my agony." These lines, which the artist had written at the age of 57, seem to convey the dominant feeling in the Madonna and Saint John, gathered around the Cross. Fear and pain have drawn the Madonna to Christ's body, while St. John turns towards Him in supplication, with one arm around the Cross. In this female figure there is nothing of the Mother of God represented in his 1499 Piete nor does the Evangelist recall anything of the 1505 St. Matthew. Nowhere are the changes of this half century so clearly demonstrated as in the life and work of Michelangelo Buonarroti. Artist: MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Title: Crucifix Date: 1501-1550 Italian , graphics : religious |
