1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 1: Hey, listeners. This episode is part of our new playlist 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: to help everybody get through these times we're living in. 3 00:00:09,440 --> 00:00:12,400 Speaker 1: It's our host faves playlist. Yeah, these are just some 4 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,000 Speaker 1: of our personal favorites, ones that we had a particular 5 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,599 Speaker 1: affinity for, and because these are stressful and trying times, 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,240 Speaker 1: we tried to stick to the ones that weren't quite 7 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: as dour. So hopefully they'll give you a little lift, 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: Stay safe. Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, 9 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: the podcast. I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, 11 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,480 Speaker 1: and today we're going to talk about what is perhaps 12 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:48,919 Speaker 1: the most famous of all images and Christian are are 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:52,239 Speaker 1: definitely one of the most famous, uh, the Piata. And 14 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:54,840 Speaker 1: I was originally going to research just the attack on 15 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: Micolandelo's piazza in two and we are going to talk 16 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,440 Speaker 1: about that. But as I got to researching that, I 17 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: ended up down this sort of wonderful rabbit hole of 18 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,680 Speaker 1: this image in art history is depicted by many artists 19 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:11,560 Speaker 1: over time, and specifically the ones that michel Angelo worked on, 20 00:01:11,720 --> 00:01:13,720 Speaker 1: because there were more than one, and we will talk 21 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:16,720 Speaker 1: about all of those. So this episode ended up really 22 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: being a little bit of a smartest board. There is 23 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: a little bit of light art history. There is a 24 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: little bit about michel Angelo, but we're not really doing 25 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: a biography of him. We're just talking about these works 26 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: of art and kind of some of his life surrounding them, 27 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: not in great depth, and a bit about art defacement 28 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:36,319 Speaker 1: more than one in fact. And we're also gonna touch 29 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: on the great care that is needed to move a 30 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: sculpture of the nature of the famous Pieta that michel 31 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: Angelo worked on. So we're getting a little bit of 32 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: all of that in today's episode. Just in case you 33 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: don't know the Piata and the general sense is any 34 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: depiction or representation of the Virgin Mary morning over Christ's 35 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: dead by I don't know why. I suddenly was like 36 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,720 Speaker 1: that sounded so bleak, right, Well, it is bleak. It's 37 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: they're very sad. You should yeah. Well, obviously the word 38 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: derives from the Latin word for pity. However, the use 39 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: of this word to apply to these pieces comes after 40 00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: they start to appear in art. Yeah, we see them 41 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: starting these images of of Merry holding Christ after the 42 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 1: crucifixion around the thirteenth century, but that word doesn't really 43 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: come in in that sense until I think the sixteen hundreds. 44 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: So another thing that's interesting is that although this is 45 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: a significant moment in the Christian religion, this scene, in 46 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 1: this this imagery, that scene actually isn't present in the Gospels, 47 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,080 Speaker 1: Like there's not a specific moment where they describe this. Uh. 48 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:57,080 Speaker 1: The Christ crucifixion is in there, the descent from the cross, 49 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:02,200 Speaker 1: or the deposition as it's off my all uh lamentation, 50 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: Christ being laid on the ground, and the intombment are 51 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: all there in the New Testament, but there really is 52 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: no description of Mary cradling her son. Yet it became 53 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 1: a really important image. An a lecture given by the 54 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:19,079 Speaker 1: Right Reverend Lord Harry's at the Museum of London in March, 55 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: the speaker outlines the factors that he believes contribute to 56 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: the origin of the Pieta as a significant scene in 57 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: religious art, despite it not actually being something that's ever 58 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: mentioned in scripture. Harry's describes the development of devotional images 59 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 1: versus narrative images, and whereas narrative religious art clearly shows 60 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: a story playing out, devotional imagery takes these images out 61 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: of their narrative context. And this came about in the 62 00:03:48,160 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: hundreds in relation to an intense religious reverence. These images 63 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: were basically so that the devoted could fixate and think 64 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: on the suffering of Christ as a part of personal 65 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: prayer and meditation. So, as part of a group of 66 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: common devotional images to come out of Germany, specifically during 67 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,200 Speaker 1: their undreds, the scene of the Piata emerged. This is 68 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: due to the fact that Mary, as a religious figure 69 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: was gaining a greater position, so her suffering too was 70 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,400 Speaker 1: to be contemplated in devotionals. Mary's pain and lament over 71 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:22,600 Speaker 1: Christ's death had long been a part of religious writings 72 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:26,640 Speaker 1: before the visual of this moment of grief became a standard. 73 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: There are three main types of pieta. The first is 74 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: the early German, in which the torso of Christ is upright, 75 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,919 Speaker 1: with the head, arms and legs at diagonal placements. In 76 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: relation to the torso, Christ is often portrayed in a 77 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,240 Speaker 1: smaller size compared to Mary. This hearkens back to his 78 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 1: child state. Sometimes when you see these, they're a bit 79 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 1: jarring because he looks like an adult man, but he's 80 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: very small in relation to Mary uh and his suffering 81 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: is usually depicted in in great depth and with clarity. 82 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: He looks like he's in terrible pain. Mary, for her part, 83 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: is often shown in deep sorrow. Her face is often 84 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: contorted with grief, and the first of these images in 85 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:09,960 Speaker 1: this style date back to again the early hundreds. The 86 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: second type, which came about in the late fifteenth century, 87 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: is characterized by Christ's body depicted with a continuous curve. 88 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 1: Mary's grief is often more restrained in these, and she 89 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 1: often holds her hands in a prayer position rather than 90 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: holding the body of her son. And the third type, 91 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: which also dates back to the fifteenth century, is characterized 92 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:35,600 Speaker 1: by the body of Christ in a horizontal, usually straighter position, 93 00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: and these often feature more people in the tableau. It's 94 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: not just Christ and Mary, and there's often a peaceful 95 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:45,720 Speaker 1: landscape in the background, and sometimes there is an architectural feature. 96 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: Christ wounds are frequently, though not always, less of a focus. 97 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: It's a little bit of a softer image, it's not 98 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: so fraught with grief. Between thirteen hundred and fift hundred, 99 00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:00,360 Speaker 1: personal iconography became a lot more common pre es lee 100 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: to that art had been more of a public concept, 101 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:07,720 Speaker 1: so during this period, works of art representing the Pieta 102 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: became more prevalent in people's private homes instead of just 103 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: out in public spaces. So it is a little bit 104 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: early on. But in the next segment it runs kind 105 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: of long, and we're going to talk about the three 106 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: different versions of the Pieta created by Michelangelo. So we're 107 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: gonna pause into our sponsor break now so we can 108 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: keep all of that chunk together. In the fourteen nineties, 109 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: michel Angelo, still very young at this point, traveled from 110 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,800 Speaker 1: Florence to Venice and to Bologna and eventually ended up 111 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: in Rome. In four when Michelangelo was commissioned to create 112 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: his famous Piety, he was only twenty four. The contract 113 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: was signed on August. That document is actually now part 114 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: of the Vaticans collection. The work was intended for the 115 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: funeral chapel of St. Petronia in St. Peter's Basilica. The 116 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: person who requested the art was the French ambassador, Cardinal 117 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,800 Speaker 1: Bilair do la Grela. The piece would be part of 118 00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: the decor of the chapel where he was to be 119 00:07:14,760 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: interred and where funeral services would be given for other 120 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:23,280 Speaker 1: people as well. Once tasked with this piece, uh the 121 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: artist Michelangelo set out to find the most perfect block 122 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: of marble he could find. He found one eventually, which 123 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: he claimed had no faults, and he set to work. 124 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 1: Michelangelo worked on Jean de Blare's commission from fift hundred, 125 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:39,239 Speaker 1: and he worked in the round, so he was able 126 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 1: to access all sides of the piece at once, and 127 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,520 Speaker 1: the finished sculpture waste three tons. Blaire had died in 128 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:49,480 Speaker 1: so he did not get to see the completed work. 129 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: This sculpture, which a lot of our listeners have probably 130 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,520 Speaker 1: seen at least in pictures of Spectacular, will include a 131 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: link to the show notes with a virtual tour of 132 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: it online. It's really unique in its peacefulness. Mary appears 133 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: to be very young. It's an appearance that Michelangelo attributed 134 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: to her purity when people criticized his choice to show 135 00:08:10,120 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: her as a youth. The torso wound of Christ is minimized, 136 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: and there is, above almost all else the sense of 137 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:22,880 Speaker 1: serenity to the work. Rather than suffering. Mary is not 138 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:26,040 Speaker 1: directly touching the body of Christ in this sculpture. There's 139 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 1: actually a cloth carved in between her hand and the 140 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: side of his torso where she's supporting him and this 141 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 1: denotes the sacred nature of his physical body. The relative 142 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: sizes of the two figures is also something to note. 143 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: While her head is proportional to her son's in the sculpture, 144 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:47,800 Speaker 1: Mary's body is larger. Unlike in the early German style 145 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: of Phi works, it appears to be more of a 146 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: visual and logistical need. In Michelangelo's sculpture, Mary's body needed 147 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: to be large enough to support her son, and the 148 00:08:57,679 --> 00:09:01,280 Speaker 1: depth of the cloth draped around Mary gives the sculpture 149 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:06,280 Speaker 1: an incredibly realistic effect, but also hides the size disparity. 150 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: And this commission Peace was also intended to sit above 151 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: the altar in the Funeral Chapter chapel, so part of 152 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,319 Speaker 1: the size disparity was possibly to add to a visual 153 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 1: illusion both of Mary offering up Christ just as mourners 154 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:23,720 Speaker 1: were offering up their deceased loved ones uh and also 155 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:26,319 Speaker 1: if she had been a normal size in the sculpture, 156 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:28,920 Speaker 1: like if you were standing near it, uh, she then 157 00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: would have appeared unrealistically tiny Once the sculpture was placed 158 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:35,080 Speaker 1: in its intended position in the chapel, And we know 159 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,239 Speaker 1: michel Angelo kind of thought about these things and other sculptures. 160 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:40,920 Speaker 1: It comes up people will talk about the David sometimes 161 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: and how it was meant to be displayed and how 162 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: the proportions were affected. So we know that he thought 163 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: about this kind of thing, uh, and that you know 164 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: he was keenly aware of how I and sightline and 165 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,320 Speaker 1: presentation would affect the need for size. This was the 166 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: only one of Michelangelo's sculptures that carved as full name 167 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: into Allegedly, he had overheard visitors attributing the work to 168 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: another artist after it had been installed in the chapel, 169 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:10,440 Speaker 1: and so he made his mark on the ribbon draped 170 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: across Mary's chest by night. Later on, though, he regretted 171 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:16,920 Speaker 1: having done that, and he vowed to never again put 172 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,160 Speaker 1: his name on his work because he found it to 173 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: be prideful. And this sculpture was so well received that 174 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: it was a really significant factor in the launch of 175 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: michel Angelo's career. This was again very early on, he 176 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: was in his twenties. Immediately upon its reveal, this was 177 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: seen as a masterpiece, and other artists flocked to the 178 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: chapel to see it. And this is sort of one 179 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 1: of those wonderfully rare cases of an artist actually appreciate 180 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,480 Speaker 1: being appreciated in his time rather than after it, because 181 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,680 Speaker 1: michel Angelo lived another sixty four years after completing the Pietas, 182 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,960 Speaker 1: so he was able to see the effect his work 183 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,960 Speaker 1: had on people and how beloved it was from basically 184 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: day one of his existence. It kind of made him 185 00:10:56,520 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: a rock star. So the Pieta that you think of 186 00:10:59,240 --> 00:11:01,360 Speaker 1: when you hear the name Gelangelo, that one that we 187 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: have just been talking about. It's his most famous, but 188 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: not his only depiction of that moment. His second Pieta, 189 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:13,200 Speaker 1: also known as the Florentine Pieta, and the deposition was 190 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: worked on over a number of years, beginning in fifty seven, 191 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: and this piece was not commissioned. It was intended by 192 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,560 Speaker 1: the artist to adorn his own final resting place, and 193 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: as such was something of a passion project. The Florentine 194 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: Pichi is kind of a puzzler. It's meeting is not 195 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,520 Speaker 1: immediately clear. Both the stage of the Christ's narrative and 196 00:11:32,520 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 1: he was included in the tableau have really been debated 197 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:39,520 Speaker 1: by art historians at great length. In the narrative context, 198 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,720 Speaker 1: some elements of the piece indicate that it's a representation 199 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: of the deposition, Others hint that it's more of a Pieta, 200 00:11:46,679 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: and yet others lead people to interpretation that it's supposed 201 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: to be the entombment of Christ. It's even possible that 202 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: Michelangelo intended to blend multiple narratives into this one work. 203 00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: And there are four figures in this sculpture, so already 204 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: we're at a departure from the classic marry in Christ 205 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,640 Speaker 1: set up. One is Christ, one is the Virgin Mary, 206 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: and another person is Mary Magdalene. But the fourth figure 207 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:16,520 Speaker 1: is where the confusion and the variant interpretations really come 208 00:12:16,559 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: into play. This fourth figure is a hooded figure and 209 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: its male and stands above the other three. And it 210 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: is not entirely clear to everyone who it's supposed to be. 211 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: I will say when I say that there are people 212 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: who believe very firmly that they know who it's supposed 213 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: to be, but debate continues. It could be the biblical 214 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: figure Joseph of Arimathea, who provided his own intended tomb 215 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: as the resting place for Jesus after the crucifixion. It 216 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,760 Speaker 1: could be Nicodemus, the Pharisee, who appears in the Gospel 217 00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: of John and assists in the burial of Jesus. The 218 00:12:50,160 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: Nicodemus interpretation is a common one. If the figure is 219 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: Joseph of Arimathea, that that figure, combined with the presence 220 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,600 Speaker 1: of Mary Magna Lynn would suggest that this is an 221 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 1: intombant piece, as those two figures are traditionally more associated 222 00:13:05,360 --> 00:13:08,599 Speaker 1: with art depicting that phase of the narrative. If it 223 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: is Nicodemus, it may hint more strongly at being the deposition, 224 00:13:12,040 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: as both Joseph and Nicodemus are featured in that element 225 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: in the narrative, traditionally an art, but Nicodemus is not 226 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:23,440 Speaker 1: normally featured in depictions of the entombment. In fifty five, 227 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 1: michel Angelo attempted to destroy the Florentine Piata. He was 228 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: successful in breaking off Christ's left leg and arm, and 229 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: he chipped other sections. And why he did this is unclear, 230 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:39,560 Speaker 1: but there are a number of theories, and the truth 231 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 1: may lie in some combination of several or all of them. 232 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:46,520 Speaker 1: One is that the artist was troubled by a particularly 233 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: problematic vein in the marble, which frustrated him to the 234 00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:52,440 Speaker 1: point of despair, and he just got angry and wanted 235 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 1: to smatch it. Anybody who's done something creative can know 236 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:58,959 Speaker 1: that those moments happen. Another is that his servant had 237 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,280 Speaker 1: been nagging him to finished the piece, which made him 238 00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,040 Speaker 1: irritated with the whole enterprise again to the point where 239 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 1: he was just frustrated and angry. Those two reasons were 240 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: given by michel Angelo himself when pressed on the matter 241 00:14:11,559 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: in the account written by one of his contemporaries, georgiava Sari. 242 00:14:15,720 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: The third and fourth theories and exactly what happened are 243 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: a little bit more involved. So the first of these 244 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,560 Speaker 1: involves the placement of Christ's leg, which is slung across 245 00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 1: his mother's lap, and that this was a problematic symbol 246 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: that michel Angelo believed could be misconstrued or that he 247 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,600 Speaker 1: felt that he hadn't properly captured. So at this point 248 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,800 Speaker 1: in art history, a leg placed in another's lap held 249 00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: a sexual meaning. It suggested that the pair involved in 250 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: this crossing of legs across laps were romantically or erotically entwined, 251 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: and for Christ to have his leg in his mother's lap, 252 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 1: though actually easily fit in with the symbolism of Mary 253 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: representing the church as the bride of Christ. So this 254 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,600 Speaker 1: was not necessarily an issue, and there was existing art 255 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:01,320 Speaker 1: at the time that included the leg of Christ draped 256 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: across Mary, as he was taken down in the deposition 257 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:06,840 Speaker 1: and and is in a state where the body is 258 00:15:06,880 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: not supported by the self, so it's it's drooping and 259 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:16,240 Speaker 1: it's falling. It is possible, however, though, that michel Angelo 260 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,960 Speaker 1: was concerned that there could be confusion, and so he 261 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: intended to alter this piece by first removing the leg, 262 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:24,960 Speaker 1: so it was less of a destruction situation and more 263 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 1: of a let's a race and start over and fix 264 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:32,160 Speaker 1: some pieces. The fourth theory involves the hood figure again. 265 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: It's often been discussed that the Nicodemus figure was also 266 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: intended to be a self portrait of michel Angelo. As 267 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: Nicodemus had connection to sculpting, this would have been a 268 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: pretty natural move on the part of the artist, but 269 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,600 Speaker 1: michel Angelo had become more involved with the school of 270 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: belief known as Nicodemism, which didn't wish to separate from 271 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: the Catholic Church, but also held beliefs more in line 272 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: with Protestant values. He may have intended to remove his 273 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: likeness as Nicodemus from the work in order to avoid 274 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:07,960 Speaker 1: suspicion that he was actually a religious dissenter. Eventually, Michelangelo 275 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: consented to allow one of his pupils to Burrio Calcani, 276 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: to restore the piece, but not the leg, which may 277 00:16:15,240 --> 00:16:19,720 Speaker 1: give credence to the slung leg sery Calcani's work was 278 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: eventually completed. He did restore the other elements that have 279 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: been broken, and it is now on display at the 280 00:16:25,440 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: Museu del Opera del Duomo in Florence, Italy. In the 281 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: fifteen fifties, michel Angelo began yet a third pieta sculpture, 282 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: the Rondanini Pieta. He worked on his piece right up 283 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: until the week of his death in fifteen sixty four. 284 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: Like the Florentine Pieta, this work was intended for himself 285 00:16:45,280 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: rather than as a commission, and it breaks from the 286 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: structure of the earlier works, depicting this moment. Instead of 287 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: Mary holding her son in front of her, she stands 288 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: behind him, not supporting him. It almost looks from some 289 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,200 Speaker 1: angles as though he is actually supporting her. And this 290 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:06,000 Speaker 1: is a less refined and nuanced work than his two 291 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,520 Speaker 1: other pietas. If you look at photographs of them. You 292 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:11,960 Speaker 1: can tell obviously by comparison to the Roman Piezza, which 293 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,159 Speaker 1: is just the spectacular, beautiful, realistic looking thing. This is 294 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 1: not at that level, and in part that was because 295 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:21,439 Speaker 1: near the time of his death he hacked apart a 296 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,639 Speaker 1: lot of this statue and intended to start over, and 297 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: he retained only one of Christ's arms from the original 298 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: part of his work. But now we're going to jump 299 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:34,960 Speaker 1: back to Michelangelo's Roman Pieta. In ninety four, the sculpture 300 00:17:35,040 --> 00:17:37,800 Speaker 1: was loaned to the New York World's Fair, where it 301 00:17:37,840 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: was displayed as part of the Vatican Pavilion behind bulletproof glass. 302 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: More specifically, it was displayed behind seven sheets of bulletproof plexiglass, 303 00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,200 Speaker 1: each of which weighed about seven hundred pounds, which is 304 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 1: about three eight But just to get the sculpture to 305 00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:57,720 Speaker 1: New York from the Vatican took an incredible and careful effort. 306 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 1: Properly packing and trans supporting this priceless piece was a 307 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: work of really careful engineering. A special committee called the 308 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,920 Speaker 1: Vatican Pavilion Transport Committee was formed to address this task, 309 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 1: and one of the challenges involved here was that no 310 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:17,880 Speaker 1: one really knew for certain precisely how delicate or fragile 311 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,679 Speaker 1: or strong the statue was. At this point, it had 312 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: been sitting in the Vatican for hundreds of years, and 313 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,639 Speaker 1: there was a danger of internal fissures in the marble 314 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:30,119 Speaker 1: that couldn't be seen just from external examination, but that 315 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: could cause it to crack if it was bumped or 316 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:34,880 Speaker 1: moved in the wrong way. When the piece had been 317 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: moved within the Vatican roughly two centuries prior to this 318 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:41,480 Speaker 1: New York adventure, the left hand of the Virgin Mary 319 00:18:41,560 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: had suffered damage, so there was a very real awareness 320 00:18:45,040 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: of the danger involved in an overseas voyage. Radiologists from 321 00:18:58,800 --> 00:19:01,680 Speaker 1: Eastman Kodak were alled in to make films of the Pieta, 322 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:04,879 Speaker 1: and the marble was determined to be perfect, although X 323 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:07,480 Speaker 1: rays did clearly show pins that had been used to 324 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: repair the damaged hand. Just the same, the engineers working 325 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:14,479 Speaker 1: on the packaging approached the job with the assumption that 326 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,920 Speaker 1: there were indeed fissures, so they designed the most shockproof 327 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:22,800 Speaker 1: ride that they possibly could. There were three nesting cases 328 00:19:22,920 --> 00:19:25,959 Speaker 1: initially made for the job. The exterior case was steel 329 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: and inside that were two wooden cases, and inside those 330 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: was the petal and the weight of the cases. The 331 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: statue and all of the packing materials had to be 332 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: carefully calculated to ensure that as the parcel traveled across 333 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,920 Speaker 1: the Atlantic Ocean on a ship, any shock would be 334 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: at an absolute minimum, and that all physical extensions of 335 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: the arts of the pieces that are separate away from 336 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:52,879 Speaker 1: the main central piece would be carefully cradled and supported, 337 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:56,679 Speaker 1: with the void spaces carefully managed and braced. If you 338 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: have access to j Store, one of my sources on 339 00:19:58,760 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: this is of very fantastic and very technical article about 340 00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: all of this, which includes tables of calculation for static 341 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,439 Speaker 1: stress and all kinds of other testing laid out in 342 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:11,919 Speaker 1: graph and table form. So if you're interested in the 343 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,960 Speaker 1: nitty gritty of the engineering around this, I highly recommend 344 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 1: you go take a peek at that. To test the design, 345 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: a plaster replica of another Michelangelo statue, Moses, was used 346 00:20:22,480 --> 00:20:26,440 Speaker 1: to perform drop tests from heights ranging from a hundred 347 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,959 Speaker 1: and seven to two hundred and sixty centimeters In similar packaging. 348 00:20:30,680 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: The combination of nesting cases and loose foam fill proved 349 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 1: successful in this testing. Compression testing was also performed. Eventually, 350 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,800 Speaker 1: the second inner case was abandoned to enable the use 351 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 1: of more foam polystyrene, which added both cushion and buoyancy 352 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:52,000 Speaker 1: should things go awry at sea. I can't imagine how 353 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 1: stressed I would be if I were one of the 354 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:57,280 Speaker 1: people tasked with figuring this out. Why are you doing this? 355 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: It made me stress just reading this guy and this 356 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: the article I mentioned was written by one of the 357 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:05,919 Speaker 1: engineers that worked on this, and it made me stress 358 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,359 Speaker 1: just reading his description of it, even though he seemed 359 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: very like, Okay, we're solving these problems, we're figuring it out. 360 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,679 Speaker 1: Were being meticulous and thorough and careful, but oh it 361 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,200 Speaker 1: was stressful. Uh So the packing procedure to actually get 362 00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:21,640 Speaker 1: the sculpture into this casing was just as carefully planned 363 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: as the design of the packaging itself. So for that 364 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,480 Speaker 1: previously broken hand that we mentioned, each of the digits 365 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: uh was wrapped in elastic bandage individually, and then they 366 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: carefully packed foam polystyrene in the gaps between the fingers, 367 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,240 Speaker 1: and then the whole hand was wrapped again. That's just 368 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:43,479 Speaker 1: one example of sort of the care that they were taking. 369 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:47,439 Speaker 1: And the assembly of the wooden crate was carefully choreographed, 370 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:52,960 Speaker 1: like they had an exact number of stages in order 371 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,200 Speaker 1: of stages that like every piece had to be put 372 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,920 Speaker 1: together as the sculpture was going into the crate. Uh, 373 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,840 Speaker 1: And at multiple stages the foam polystyrene which was in 374 00:22:03,840 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: the form of these dilite beads, was added. And again 375 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:10,000 Speaker 1: there is more and more more detail of this extraordinarily 376 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: complex and careful effort in the article, which I can't 377 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:15,679 Speaker 1: stop talking about to everyone because I'm in love with 378 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:21,520 Speaker 1: that article. The exterior steel case was painted white with 379 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,680 Speaker 1: blue markings and orange on top because that's the most 380 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 1: easy to see color at sea. The case was then 381 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: escorted extremely slowly on trucks to the dock. Police escorted 382 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: it there, and it was cabled to the deck of 383 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:38,880 Speaker 1: the transport ship with extreme care and precision. And that 384 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: journey across the ocean, like to get to the docks, 385 00:22:42,359 --> 00:22:44,160 Speaker 1: to get to the ship, to get across the ocean, 386 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,879 Speaker 1: to get to New York, was just incredibly kind. Uh. 387 00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:50,000 Speaker 1: That engineer that wrote that article was saying, we did 388 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: all this work, and thankfully our work, like our our 389 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: skills were never really tested because at no point did 390 00:22:59,040 --> 00:23:02,879 Speaker 1: the parcel ever shift like drop unprepared more than a 391 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,119 Speaker 1: third of a centimeter. So really, all of that engineering 392 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: effort they were all happy to do it, and they 393 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,720 Speaker 1: were glad it was never really put to the test. 394 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: But we don't know if they really, like did everything perfect, 395 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: Like if it had fallen, we don't know still if 396 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:19,400 Speaker 1: it would have survived or not. Well in the sea 397 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:24,280 Speaker 1: is also the sea moves a lot there. I saw 398 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:29,479 Speaker 1: a terrifying photograph of this case just strapped to the 399 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 1: deck of the ship like it wasn't inside it was 400 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,240 Speaker 1: and that was all part of like the plan because 401 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: it was waterproof and it was determined that that was 402 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:40,080 Speaker 1: a safer way to do it than to put it 403 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:43,439 Speaker 1: in a cargo hold. But oh my, I it was 404 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 1: so stressful to so look at these pictures. The pH 405 00:23:48,119 --> 00:23:49,919 Speaker 1: I was not the only art that was sent to 406 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:52,560 Speaker 1: New York by the Vatican. It traveled along with an 407 00:23:52,560 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: even older sculpture, The Good Shepherd, But the p h 408 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: I was really the star of the show. It was 409 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 1: displayed against a blue background surrounded by vertical strings of 410 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:07,639 Speaker 1: votive lights. Millions of people visited the pavilions of view it, 411 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: and you can find photographs and home movies taking up 412 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:14,280 Speaker 1: of the display online. Yeah, there are lots of those 413 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:17,879 Speaker 1: available if you just do an Internet search for pieton 414 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: New York World's Fair, you'll instantly see just dozens and 415 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:25,439 Speaker 1: dozens of in many cases really beautifully taken photographs of 416 00:24:25,440 --> 00:24:29,040 Speaker 1: how it was displayed. And the World's Fair appearance of 417 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 1: the Roman Pieta was so incredibly popular that the Vaticans 418 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,960 Speaker 1: started receiving a steady stream of requests for the statue 419 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: to be loaned for other events. And overwhelmed by all 420 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,359 Speaker 1: of this correspondence, and unwilling to take the risk of 421 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,160 Speaker 1: having this prized work of art on a prolonged tour, 422 00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: the Vatican ended up issuing a statement that michel Angelo's 423 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: Pieta would stay in St. Peter's permanently once it returned home. 424 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:57,680 Speaker 1: Although the no travel announcement was made in part to 425 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,040 Speaker 1: keep the Pietas safe, trouble still Old befell the statue 426 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy two. Uh And this was originally the 427 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:06,920 Speaker 1: only thing I was going to talk about, but obviously 428 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:09,320 Speaker 1: I got interested in lots of other stuff along the way. 429 00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:13,440 Speaker 1: Uh So, while visiting St. Peter's Basilica in nineteen two, 430 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:18,040 Speaker 1: a thirty three year old Hungarian man named Laslow Toss 431 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: jumped over an altar railing and attacked the pieta. He 432 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,439 Speaker 1: was able to hit the statue twelve times with a hammer. 433 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:27,359 Speaker 1: Mary's left arm and hand were damaged. The arm was 434 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:31,639 Speaker 1: completely severed off, and her nose was broken into three parts. 435 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,919 Speaker 1: Her left eyelid, head and neck were also damaged, and 436 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: when the attack was over, more than one hundred fragments 437 00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:40,760 Speaker 1: had been knocked from the statue. Tooth was subdued by 438 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,400 Speaker 1: tourists and the security guards and he was taken away. 439 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: He yelled throughout the incident, I am Jesus Christ. Christ 440 00:25:47,359 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: has risen from the dead. He went on to claim 441 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: that God had told him to destroy Mary's image because he, 442 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,760 Speaker 1: as Laslow slash Christ, is eternal, he could have no mother. 443 00:26:00,640 --> 00:26:03,639 Speaker 1: There was a great deal of debate about how to 444 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,159 Speaker 1: repair the statue, and in fact whether it should be 445 00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,960 Speaker 1: repaired at all. There were plenty of art historians making 446 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,680 Speaker 1: the case that it should be left in its damaged 447 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 1: state as sort of a historical record of the attack. Eventually, however, 448 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:21,840 Speaker 1: the decision was made to perform a thorough and careful 449 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:25,280 Speaker 1: restoration which would leave no obvious visual clues as to 450 00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:29,600 Speaker 1: what had happened. Over the course of five months, fragments 451 00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:33,920 Speaker 1: and pieces were identified and cataloged. Once that process was complete, 452 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: a lab was set up around the statue so it 453 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,000 Speaker 1: could be worked on without removing it from the chapel, 454 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 1: and a combination of an invisible glue and marble powder 455 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:48,640 Speaker 1: UH was used as a fixative, and restorers painstakingly placed 456 00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,880 Speaker 1: each broken piece back into position. And they didn't even 457 00:26:51,880 --> 00:26:54,720 Speaker 1: actually have every missing piece, which they knew based on 458 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: their months of inventory work that they had done prior 459 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:05,360 Speaker 1: to reassembly. I'm so angry. I know, I know. This 460 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:07,160 Speaker 1: is the part where I'm like, oh, this did get 461 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: sad at the end of for a couple of reasons. 462 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:12,600 Speaker 1: One missing piece did arrive in an anonymous parcel from 463 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 1: the United States of visiting tourists who had witnessed the 464 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,320 Speaker 1: attack took one of the pieces home, but then mailed 465 00:27:18,359 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: it back over feeling guilt over the superstitious souvenir. Many 466 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:26,160 Speaker 1: other tourists took shards as well, which were never never returned. 467 00:27:26,160 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: And I would like to say, what is wrong with you? Yeah, 468 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,399 Speaker 1: I as I was thinking about it, UH writing up 469 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,600 Speaker 1: these notes, I was just thinking about how many tiny 470 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:40,479 Speaker 1: pieces of the Pieta are spread no telling where throughout 471 00:27:40,480 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 1: the globe, which is just an oddly shocking thought to me. 472 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: Fortunately a mold of the Pieta had also been made 473 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,800 Speaker 1: before this attack happened, and using that the remaining missing 474 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 1: pieces were recreated and replaced. So after ten months of 475 00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: research and restoration, So remember it took five months just 476 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 1: to do the cataloging and the roughly another five to 477 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 1: do the actual reassembly, the sculpture that had made michel 478 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,920 Speaker 1: Angelo famous was back on display for public viewings, though 479 00:28:10,080 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: once again, as it had been at the World's Fair, 480 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 1: it was placed behind protective bulletproof glass and it still is. 481 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:19,480 Speaker 1: As for Laslow taught, his story is patchy and sad. 482 00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:23,119 Speaker 1: At the time of the attack, he was a former geologist, 483 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: unemployed at the time of the incident, and deemed to 484 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: be mentally unstable. He claimed, as he shouted during the 485 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,240 Speaker 1: assault on the Pieta to beat Jesus Christ and sometimes Michaelangelo. 486 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:35,600 Speaker 1: And I want to clarify that my what is wrong 487 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: with you is about nondisturbed people who took pieces of 488 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: a century old piece of art home with them. Yeah, 489 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:45,240 Speaker 1: that was what I presumed you. I just wanted to 490 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:47,320 Speaker 1: make sure because I know somebody's going to write us 491 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,000 Speaker 1: an email about it, and I'm talking about the tourists 492 00:28:50,000 --> 00:28:53,320 Speaker 1: who took pieces of it home. Yeah yeah, yeah yeah. 493 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,320 Speaker 1: Like I said, I just imagined how many tiny pieces 494 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:58,360 Speaker 1: are spread throughout the world when they should be back 495 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:04,440 Speaker 1: with statue. But yeah, talks. Story is continues to be sad. Uh. 496 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 1: In the years prior to this violent outburst, he had 497 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,560 Speaker 1: moved from Hungary to Australia. Although he did not speak 498 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,160 Speaker 1: any English, his degree as a geologist was not recognized 499 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 1: in Australia and so he ended up having to work 500 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: factory jobs. He did, in fact, try to unionize some 501 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,680 Speaker 1: of those jobs, and he worked on that until he 502 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: was in a violent fight in nineteen sixty seven, and 503 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: in that fight he fractured his skull. He vanished for 504 00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,200 Speaker 1: some time after that injury, and then he would turn 505 00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: up in familiar spots, though only briefly, before venturing to 506 00:29:34,160 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: Italy in nineteen seventy two. And it sounds like the 507 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:40,160 Speaker 1: people that knew him found him to be very different 508 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:43,320 Speaker 1: when he reappeared than he had been prior to that injury. 509 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: No criminal charges were ever filed against him. He was, 510 00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: and said, instead sent to a psychiatric institution for two 511 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:53,520 Speaker 1: years when he was released in nineteen seventy five, he 512 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: was deported back to Australia. His story goes cold after that. 513 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,560 Speaker 1: It's inspired various creative works, and there are certainly corners 514 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,440 Speaker 1: of the Internet where tall tales of sightings and theories 515 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: about his life after he left Europe just abound. But 516 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,920 Speaker 1: it appears that Toth all but vanished once he got 517 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: back to Australia. Yeah, we just there is like no 518 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,560 Speaker 1: thread of what happened to him after that. Uh, just 519 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: troubling on a variety of levels. Um, So we don't 520 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,920 Speaker 1: know if he could still be alive, if he you know, 521 00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:31,040 Speaker 1: went on delete a completely different life, if he lives 522 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: a life of anonymity. We just have no idea. It 523 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,440 Speaker 1: always seemed to me reading about this because I remember, 524 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:43,400 Speaker 1: I mean, I was born in the very early seventies, 525 00:30:43,440 --> 00:30:45,720 Speaker 1: so I remember this was an event that was talked 526 00:30:45,760 --> 00:30:48,040 Speaker 1: about a lot in my family. My mother's side of 527 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: the family particularly is very devout Roman Catholic and and 528 00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,959 Speaker 1: this was something that would come up in conversation often. 529 00:30:54,600 --> 00:30:58,560 Speaker 1: And I remember, like I always had questions about the perpetrator, 530 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 1: and they never had answers. But and now that I 531 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: have done a little bit more research. It appears no 532 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:05,720 Speaker 1: one has answers, and it always seems sort of cruel 533 00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 1: that when he got out of a mental institution, he 534 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: was deported and there was no further care or concern 535 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: about his treatment. Uh but yeah, so we don't know. 536 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: What we do know is that Michelangelo's Pieta is still 537 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 1: currently on display in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. You 538 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:25,400 Speaker 1: can go visit it, and if you can't go visit 539 00:31:25,440 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 1: it in person, like I said, there is a Pieta 540 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: virtual tour that you can visit online and zoom in 541 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,200 Speaker 1: and see it fairly up close. There's also been a 542 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,280 Speaker 1: number of just spectacular photographs taken of it over the years, 543 00:31:37,280 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: so it is easy to to look at and examine 544 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:44,040 Speaker 1: and appreciate the incredible work for yourself. It's it's one 545 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 1: of those pieces of sculpture that, um, when you hear 546 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 1: people talk about it, even people that are not religious 547 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:55,360 Speaker 1: speak about it, in incredible, having a just an incredible 548 00:31:55,400 --> 00:31:59,120 Speaker 1: sense of a sort of otherworldly experience because it is 549 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 1: so just indescribably beautiful and sort of moving. So it's 550 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,040 Speaker 1: a piece I love. I think it's gorgeous. I love 551 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:08,760 Speaker 1: to talk about a little bit of art here and there. 552 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:17,640 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us today for this classic. 553 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:20,400 Speaker 1: If you have heard any kind of email address or 554 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: maybe a Facebook you are l during the course of 555 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 1: the episode, that might be obsolete. It might be doubly 556 00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:28,320 Speaker 1: obsolete because we have changed our email address again. 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