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Madonna of the Stairs
Michelangelo Buonarotti is an artist known in most households by his first name alone. Many cultures have adopted their own way of pronouncing his name, in an effort to make some part of this renowned artist their own. His later works need no pictorial representation. The Sistine Chapel ceiling and Last Judgment were finished later in life while the Pieta in St. Peter’s was completed when he was only twenty one. His earlier, largely unfinished works convey the progeny’s early grasp of form and sculpting technique. Michelangelo’s short apprenticeship to the painter Ghirlandaio at the age of 12 was hard won, as Michelangelo fought his father tooth and nail until he was allowed to pursue his education as an artist. Vasari claims that the three year contract drafted by Michelangelo’s father and Ghirlandaio was broken by Michelangelo. Supposedly, the old master harbored an intense jealousy for his apprentice’s skill, which caused problems for the both of them. Michelangelo’s work on the frescoes of Santa Maria Novella garners the attention of Bertoldo de Giovanni, student of Donatello, who serves as private curator for Lorenzo de Medici. Shortly after that, Michelangelo’s father took a job in the Medici and court and Michelangelo is inducted into the Medici art school taught by Bertoldo and funded by Lorenzo. Famously, the story goes that Lorenzo, lamenting that he has far more talented painters than he does sculptors, challenges the “genius” Michelangelo to counterfeit a faun’s head. Condivi claims that ‘Michelangelo, who had never yet touched marble or chisels, succeeded so well in counterfeiting [the head of the faun], that Lorenzo was astonished.”

Michelangelo’s earliest surviving relief; the Madonna of the Stairs was more or less completed in 1491 while he was in residence at the Medici (Image 1). The Madonna of the Stairs is the first work that Michelangelo preserved, but it probably was not his first effort at carving. Probably, this was an assignment given to Michelangelo by Bertoldo and his executed on an expensive piece of white marble. At roughly 22 x 15.5 inches, this carved relief features the Madonna and Child seated on some steps while children, probably modeled on Michelangelo’s siblings, can be seen in the background playing with a length of cloth, referencing the Shroud of Turin. This shroud would symbolize Christ’s untimely demise. The cloth, coupled with the Virgin’s contemplative stare, signify her spiritual foreknowledge of her son’s fate. This is a common motif in Renaissance religious works. The sculpture is the sort of maximum extension of figures within confining boundaries that is a hallmark of Michelangelo’s art, especially his sculpture. By choosing to depict Christ as a fully developed, almost herculean, child, Michelangelo shows us that the child is Godly in nature. The Christ child’s highly stylized, somewhat awkward pose, with his hand twisted behind his back, is seen much later in the figure of Day in the New Sacristy, alternatively known as the Medici Chapel (Image 2). Christ is turned into Mary’s chest, away from the viewer.

Mary’s form dominates the foreground, clearly elevating her importance in the piece. Michelangelo seems unconcerned that her halo runs out of the plane. In fact, he does not bother to designate much of a boarder border at all. Mary’s crossed ankles indicate a relaxed, passive pose. This type becomes a staple in Michelangelo’s work, seen later in the figure of Lorenzo, in the Medici Chapel (Image 3). Mary’s profile was probably poached from ancient Greek sarcophagi which Michelangelo would have known at the time (Image 4). Even five hundred years ago, Florence was a wealth of ancient history, with new buildings being built right on top of old ones and pieces of ancient artwork being rigged right into new masonry. This relief utilizes rilievo schiacciato, or “scratched relief,” a technique developed by Michelangelo’s predecessor, Donatello, some years before. Donatello first used this technique on the base of St. George on the Orsanmichele in 1415, as a way to show atmospheric effects on a low relief (Image 5). Despite the Madonna of the Stairs being executed while the artist was in his mid-teens, it still shows an intense understanding of perspective and scale. Michelangelo wields his chisel like a pencil, defining copious folds in Mary’s drapery without sacrificing her form. Michelangelo‘s own sculptural style was thus initially influenced as much by the Renaissance work of Donatello as it was by the classical originals in the Medici garden. Unfortunately, no other known example of Michelangelo ever reusing this technique has been discovered. The Madonna of the Stairs was not brought to complete finish. It would remain what could be called a “lost” work for decades. Vasari knew nothing about it when he wrote his account of the artist in his book in 1550 and Michelangelo himself evidently felt it required no mention when describing his early life to Condivi. Critics rave that this piece represents Michelangelo’s first departure from the conventional form, a trend he implements in every work hereafter. Although there have been many artists that have worked in sculptures and have also painted, according to William Wallace,  Michelangelo is universally recognized to be among the greatest artist of all time.