Jubilee Pilgrimage Highlights
Undoubtedly one of the most recognized sculptures in the world, Michelangelo’s Pieta greets pilgrims as they walk into the splendor of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican. The story behind this emblematic work of art, however, has a deep albeit unknown connection to the Priesthood.
During my time as a seminarian on the hill and now as a priest, it is still my favorite piece to explain to pilgrims because I have seen the ways in which it touches believers and nonbelievers alike. Its objective beauty conveys not only its artistic value but also its spiritual significance to people from all walks of life. It is impossible not to call to mind Dostoevsky’s famous words: “beauty will save the world.”
Completed at the young age of 23, Michelangelo Buonarroti showed forth his sculptural genius by carving the sculptural group out of a single block of Carrara marble. The commission marked Michelangelo’s debut in the Roman artistic scene. It caused so much controversy that the young artist felt obliged to etch his name onto the piece in order to dissipate rumors about its true author and provenance.
The piece was originally commissioned by a French cardinal, who wanted the young artists to make “the most beautiful work of marble in Rome, one that no living artist could better.” The sculpture would have probably been placed atop the altar where the holy sacrifice of the Mass would be celebrated in one of the side chapels. Therefore, the priest, celebrating ad orientem, would have felt at the feet of Jesus and the Blessed Mother throughout the celebration of Mass. It is precisely this particular detail that breaks open the work of art for us.
While the sculpture naturally portrays the Blessed Mother holding the lifeless body of her son, upon closer inspection, we realize that such is not the case. The truth is that Mary is only holding onto her son with her right hand under the arm of Christ. She is not even touching him with her left hand. Her right hand is at an angle, almost in a giving position. Moreover, if we look at the right leg of Jesus, it gives one the impression that He is slowly sliding off Mary’s lap and ultimately will fall to the ground.
However, within the context of the Mass, Jesus is not so much falling as He is being given to the priest by Mary. The lifeless body of Jesus is being given over to the priest in order for Him to come alive again in the consecrated bread and wine, where Jesus renders Himself present, Body and Blood, soul and divinity. This great exchange between the Mother of the Church and the Priest himself happens thanks to the sacrament of Holy Orders. Christ renders Himself present at every Mass through the consecrated hands of the Priest, who continues the salvific works of Christ by nourishing God’s People with the Body and Blood of Jesus.
Today the Pieta stands as a testament to the true, the good, and the beautiful, all of which find their source and summit in the Son of God. The sculpture will have pride of place in the upcoming Jubilee since it will be the first work of art the pilgrims see as they enter the Basilica through the Holy Door, reminding us, in the worlds of Michelangelo himself, that “the true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.”
Father Cesar Jaramillo is a priest of the Diocese of Paterson and a regular contributor to The Beacon in English and Spanish. He is currently in Rome for graduate studies.