The tomb of Pope Julius II is the tomb of Pope Julius II in the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli , designed and created by Michelangelo . The contract was concluded in 1505 , the work was completed in 1545 . In total, six tomb designs developed by the sculptor are known.
Content
Creation History
In March 1505, Julius II called Michelangelo to Rome to discuss the design of his tomb.
First draft
The original plan was not preserved, but, as you might suppose, Pope Julius II wanted to build a new temple with his tomb on the model of the tomb of the French kings in Saint-Denis . This tomb, as R. Rolland writes: “(...) must surpass all the mausoleums of Ancient Rome” [1] . According to the project, the tomb was supposed to stand freely and have a size of 6 by 9 m. The room inside was supposed to be oval, and about 40 statues would surround the tomb outside.
Preliminary drawings and descriptions make it possible to reconstruct the plan of the tomb and its symbolic meaning. The tomb was supposed to personify a three-stage ascent from earthly life to eternal. On the first level there should have been statues of the apostle Paul, Moses and the prophets, symbols of two ways to achieve salvation. Above are two angels carrying Julius II to heaven.
In 1505 - 1506 years. Michelangelo personally visited Carrara in order to find the right kind of marble. However, since Pope Julius II turned his attention to the construction of St. Peter's Basilica and the painting of the Sistine Chapel, the tomb remained only in plans. Frustrated, Michelangelo left Rome on April 17, 1506 , the day before the construction of the cathedral began.
The reconstruction of the first project was filed according to S. Tolnay (1954). A variant of F. Hart (1968) is also known.
Second Project
On February 21, 1513, Pope Julius II died. On May 6, 1513, Michelangelo signed an agreement with his heirs for a second, much more modest, project of the tomb. From 1513 to 1516 Michelangelo created the figures of two slaves for the tomb of Julius II - the Risen Slave and the Dying Slave , and a sculpture of Moses . Slaves did not enter the final version of the tomb, and the sculptor presented them to Roberto Strozzi [2] .
Risen Slave
Dying slave
Reconstruction of the second project is also presented according to S. Tolnay (1954). A variant of F. Hart (1968) is also known. A copy of D. Rocchetti from the original drawing of Michelangelo (Berlin, Engraving Cabinet) has been preserved.
Third Project
On July 8, 1516, an agreement was signed on the third project of the tomb.
This plan further simplified the design - the tomb became narrow, not sculptural groups, but separate figures should have been placed in niches. The top was redesigned as a tier, divided by half columns, between which four seated statues were to be located, in particular - Moses.
Fourth Project
The year 1525 dates to the fourth project of the tomb of Julius II [3] .
According to this project, Michelangelo was supposed to confine himself to a wall tomb, traditional for that era.
Fifth Project
Young slave
(c. 1519–36)Bearded slave
(c. 1519–36)Atlant
(c. 1519–36)Awakening Slave
(c. 1519–36)
Sixth project. Completion
On August 20, 1545, the last contract was concluded regarding the sixth project of the tomb of Julius II. In its current form, it was completed in 1545 .
Michelangelo managed to make only three statues - Moses , Rachel and Leah . The tombstone was installed in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli , where the pope served during his life, and not in the Cathedral of St. Peter, as previously planned [4] . The central statue of the project was Moses, whom Liebman calls “in a certain sense a portrait, physical and spiritual, Julia II” [4] . There are more ambiguous interpretations of this statue. [five]
Above Moses, in the upper row, there is a marble sarcophagus, and on it is the figure of Pope Julius II. According to Vasari , this statue, like the sarcophagus, was the work of Tommaso Boscoli [it] ( Italian: Tommaso Boscoli ), a student of Michelangelo. However, after the restoration, the researchers had doubts about the authorship of Boscoli. According to Christoph Luitpold Frommel ( German Christoph Luitpold Frommel ), professor at the Institute for Art History of the Max Planck Society , then director of the Herzian Library, a significant part of the statue of Julius II, if not all, belongs to the hand of Michelangelo [6] .
Condivi claimed that the tomb was the “tragedy” of Michelangelo's whole life, as he never managed to complete it the way it had first been seen. According to V. N. Lazarev ,
| What we see in the Roman church of San Pietro in Vincoli is infinitely far from the original plan (...) the architectural composition of the tomb looks cold and empty [7] |
William Wallace notes that: "(...) to imagine what a tomb might be - is to refuse to see what Michelangelo managed to achieve" [8] .
Notes
- but. ^ Another variant of the name is Maso dal Bosco ( Italian: Maso del Bosco ) [9]
Links
- ↑ R. Rolland, The Life of Michelangelo , p. 100
- ↑ R. Rolland, The Life of Michelangelo , p. 85 —86
- ↑ Erpel Fritz, Michelangelo , p. 14
- ↑ 1 2 Libman M. Ya. Michelangelo Buonarroti , p. 17
- ↑ Barenboim, Peter. The image of Moses in the work of Michelangelo , LUM, M., 2017. ISBN 978-5-906072-25-2 .
- ↑ Philip Willan. Michelangelo's lost statue finally dusted off (April 9, 1999). Archived on August 6, 2012.
- ↑ Michelangelo. Poetry. Letters. Judgments of contemporaries , p. 24
- ↑ William E. Wallace, The Treasures of Michelangelo , p. 46 —47
- ↑ Michelangelo. Poetry. Letters. Judgments of Contemporaries , 1983, c. 146
Sources
- Vasari D. Biographies of the most famous painters, sculptors and architects . = ital. Le Vite de'piu eccelenti Pittori, Scultori e Architetti . - M .: Alpha-book, 2008 .-- 1278 p. - ISBN 978-5-9922-0101-7 .
- Michelangelo. Poetry. Letters. Judgments of contemporaries / comp. V.N. Grashchenkov. - M .: Art, 1983 .-- 451 p.
- Erpel Fritz. Michelangelo / Per. with him. Sergey Danilchenko. - Berlin: Henschel, 1990 .-- 72 p. - ISBN 3-362-00044-4 .
- Rolland R. The Life of Michelangelo // Lives of Great People: Per. with french V. Curella. - M .: Izvestia, 1992. - S. 71 -197.: Ill. - ISBN 5-206-00351-4 (Russian)
- Eric Scigliano Michelangelo's Mountain: The Quest For Perfection In The Marble Quarries Of Carrara. - Simon and Schuster, 2005 .-- 352 p. (eng.)
- John Addington Symonds. The Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti . - 1893. (English)
- William Wallace. The Treasures of Michelangelo. - Andre Deutsch, 2010 .-- ISBN 978-0-233-00253-8 . (eng.)