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Michelangelo’s Vatican Pietà and its Afterlives This book offers a fresh perspective on Michelangelo’s w ell-k nown masterpiece, the Vatican Pietà, by tracing the shifting meaning of the work of art over time. Lisa M. Rafanelli chronicles the object history of the Vatican Pietà and the active role played by its many reproductions. The sculpture has been on continuous view for over 500 years, during which time its cultural, theological, and artistic signif- icance has shifted. Equally important is the fact that over its long life it has been relocated numerous times and has also been reproduced in images and objects pro- duced both during Michelangelo’s lifetime and long after, described here as artistic progeny: large-s cale, unique sculpted variants, s maller-s cale statuettes, plaster and bronze casts, and engraved prints. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, Renaissance studies, early modern studies, religion, Christianity, and theology. Lisa M. Rafanelli is Professor of Art History at Manhattanville College. Routledge Research in Art History Routledge Research in Art History is our home for the latest scholarship in the feld of art history. The series publishes research monographs and edited collections, covering areas including art history, theory, and visual culture. These h igh-l evel books focus on art and artists from around the world and from a multitude of time periods. By making these studies available to the worldwide academic community, the series aims to promote quality art history research. Bauhaus Effects in Art, Architecture and Design Edited by Kathleen J ames- Chakraborty and Sabine T. Kriebel Art History at the Crossroads of Ireland and the United States Edited by Cynthia Fowler and Paula Murphy Nature and Imagination in Ancient and Early Modern Roman Art Gabriel Pihas Erasures and Eradication in Modern Viennese Art, Architecture and Design Edited by Megan Brandow-F aller and Laura Morowitz Egon Schiele and the Art of Popular Illustration Claude Cernuschi State Construction and Art in East Central Europe, 1 918–2 018 Edited by Agnieszka Chmielewska, Irena Kossowska, and Marcin Lachowski Michelangelo’s Vatican Pietà and its Afterlives Lisa M. Rafanelli The Virtual Liturgy and Ritual Artifacts in Medieval and Early Modern Studies Katharine D. Scherff For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ R outledge-R esearch-i n-A rt-H istory/b ook-s eries/R RAH Michelangelo’s Vatican Pietà and its Afterlives Lisa M. Rafanelli Designed cover image: Zloyel/ Getty First published 2023 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 and by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Taylor & Francis The right of Lisa M. Rafanelli to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Rafanelli, Lisa M., author. Title: Michelangelo’s Vatican Pietà and its afterlives / Lisa M. Rafanelli. Description: New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2022038451 (print) | LCCN 2022038452 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367859886 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032418230 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003016250 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1475-1564. Pietà. | Art and society. Classification: LCC NB623.B9 A69 2023 (print) | LCC NB623.B9 (ebook) | DDC 759.5—dc23/eng/20220926 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022038451 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022038452 ISBN: 9780367859886 ( hbk) ISBN: 9781032418230 ( pbk) ISBN: 9781003016250 ( ebk) DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003016250 Typeset in Sabon by codeMantra This book is dedicated to my parents, Kenneth and Marie Rafanelli, who have been endlessly supportive of me over the years. It is also dedicated to the memory of my grandparents and g reat-g randparents, who left their lives and homes in I taly—B orgo Val di Taro, Massa Carrara, and Prato—f or the promise of America. Like so many of the European immigrants described in these pages, they set sail across the Atlantic at the dawn of the twentieth century, and arrived at Ellis Island in New York Harbor determined to build a brighter future. I hope this book would have made them proud. Finally, to my daughters, Isabella and Liliana, you are my everything. I love you to the moon and back. Contents List of Figures ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 1 Opening Act: Michelangelo’s Vatican Pietà 15 Cardinal Jean de Bilhères Lagraulas and the Commission 16 Envisioning the Pietà 20 The Finished Sculpture (a nd Some Lingering Questions) 24 Encountering the Pietà 28 Experiencing the Pietà 29 The Madonna della Febbre 30 The Peripatetic Pietà: From Santa Petronilla to the Secretarium 30 2 Canonicity and Its Discontents: Artistic Progeny of the Pietà during the Sixteenth Century 39 A Pietà for Santa Maria dell’Anima in Rome 39 Intermezzo: Florentine Rebellion 43 A Pietà for Santo Spirito in Florence 43 An Anonymous Critic and a Madrigal 46 A Pietà for the King of France 47 A Pietà for Everyone: Reproductive Prints 49 Canonicity and its Discontents 50 3 Restaging the Pietà in the Late Sixteenth to Seventeenth Centuries 60 Marian Devotion and Imagery in Tridentine Rome 61 The Pietà and the Canons’ Choir (1 568–1 609) 64 On the Road Again ( 1609– 1625) 67 Early Seventeenth Century Posthumous Bronze Copies of the Pietà in Italy and Spain 67 The New Canons’ Choir (1 625–1 750) 71 Coronation 73 viii Contents 4 Shifting Perspectives: Michelangelo and the Pietà from the Mid- Seventeenth to Nineteenth Centuries 79 The Pietà and the Grand Tour 80 Robert Samber’s Roma Illustrata ( 1722) 83 Mid- Century: The Pietà takes Center Stage 86 The Late Eighteenth- Early Nineteenth Centuries: Revolution, Romanticism, and Michelangelo 89 Entre’acte: Napoleon and the Looting of Rome 90 The Mid- Nineteenth Century: Nationalism and the Art of Michelangelo 93 The Great Exhibition of 1851 93 Michelangelo’s Florentine Birthday Bash of 1875 94 5 The Pietà on the American Stage: The Twentieth Century 106 A Question of Authenticity 106 Marble Pietàs in Early Twentieth Century America: Icons of Faith, Beauty, and Identity 109 The Pietà and Popular Devotion: Our Lady of Sorrows 110 Ars Longa, Vita Brevis: The Pietà at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale 113 Lost- Wax Bronze Casts of the Pietà: Icons of Faith, Beauty, and Commerce 114 The Pietà and American Consumer Capitalism 116 Only the Original Would Do: The 1964– 1965 New York World’s Fair 117 Staging the Pietà at the Vatican Pavilion 121 Critical Reception 121 Souvenirs, Body Doubles, and Effigies 124 Plot Twist: An Iconoclastic Attack ( 1972) 126 6 Coda: The Pietà on the Global Stage 140 Something Borrowed: Recasting Casts 141 Fragmentation, Proselytization, and Commodification 142 Something New: Contemporary Artists and the Vatican Pietà 146 Artistic Appropriation: The Sacred and the Profane 146 The Vatican Pietà as a Symbol of Social Justice 148 Performance, Empathy, and Memory: Seeing the Pietà Afresh 151 Bibliography 163 Index 179 Figures 0.1 Attributed to Daniele da Volterra, Portrait of Michelangelo, c. 1545, oil on wood 1 1.1 Michelangelo, Pietà, 1498– 1499, marble, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican 15 1.2 Etching after Tiberio Alfarano, Almae Urbis divi Petri veteris novique Templi descriptio (P lan of Saint Peter’s with its relationship to the new Basilica), 1590 17 1.3 Donatello, Marble tabernacle (c iborium), 1432, with fourteenth century Madonna della Febbre attributed to Lippo Memmi, Museum of the Treasury, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican 18 1.4 Vesperbild, German, 1 375–1 400, wood with polychromy 19 1.5 Pietà with Donors, French, 1515, limestone with traces of polychromy 20 1.6 Pietà, Late Gothic, Basilique S aint-N azaire, Carcassone 21 1.7 Attributed to Michelangelo, Pietà, before 1497, terracotta bozzetto, Private Collection 22 1.8 Piero D’Argenta, Pietà, c. 1497– 1499, oil on wood, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome, Italy 23 1.9 Michelangelo, Pietà, 1498– 1499, marble, detail of Virgin Mary’s face and torso, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican 25 1.10 Michelangelo, Pietà, 1498– 1499, marble, detail of Christ’s hand, marble, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican 26 2.1 Pietro Lorenzetto, Pietà, 1519– 1530, marble, Santa Maria dell’Anima, Rome 40 2.2 Nanni di Baccio Bigio, Pietà, 1540– 1549, marble, Santo Spirito, Florence 44 2.3 Attributed to Leone Leoni, Pietà, in the 1560s, a plaster cast of Michelangelo’s original 48 2.4 Giulio Bonasone, Pietà under the Cross of Golgotha, 1547, engraving 50 2.5 Antonio Salamanca (f rom Nicolas Béatrizet), Pietà, 1547, engraving, Istituto Nazionale per la Grafca, Rome 51 2.6 Adamo ( Ghisi) Scultori, Pietà, 1566, engraving 52 3.1 High Altar, Santa Maria in Aracoeli, Rome 62 3.2 Altar with Salus Popoli Romani, completed 1612, Pauline Chapel, Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome 63 3.3 Antonio del Pollaiuolo, Tomb of Pope Sixtus IV, 1493, bronze, Museum of the Treasury, Saint Peter’s Basilica, Vatican 65 3.4 Jacques Callot, Pietà ( after Michelangelo), 1608/ 1611, engraving 68