Monumental
In 1498, Michelangelo was approached to make a sculpture for the personal chapel of a Cardinal. His guidelines: it needed to be life-size, made of marble and completed in one year. Most importantly, it had to be the most beautiful marble art Rome had seen.
The man who would eventually be known as the master of the Renaissance, completed the Pieta, a marble sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding a lifeless Jesus in her lap. Michelangelo took two years to make the sculpture, a year longer than the original agreement. In the interim, the Cardinal died and was unable to see the beautiful figure he requested.
More than five centuries later, the most beautiful art that Rome has ever seen is on the Syracuse University campus, allowing SU to hold the largest collection of Michelangelo’s art in the United States.
‘(Michelangelo was) monumental – bigger than life,’ said Gary Radke, a Dean’s professor of Humanities in The College of Arts and Sciences.
Now through Oct. 19, the Schaffer Art Gallery will host a collection of the Italian master’s work, ‘Michelangelo: The Man and the Myth.’
The exhibit more than doubles the amount of his work in the United States, with fewer than a dozen of his pieces in galleries and museums nationwide, Radke said.
There are more than 14 original drawings in the exhibit.
‘Bringing in a show like this really solidifies our reputation,’ said Domenic Iacono, SU Art Gallery Director.
Iacono, Radke and Pina Ragionieri of Italy’s Casa Buonarroti museum, are responsible for bringing the exhibit to campus.
The title, ‘Michelangelo: The Man and The Myth,’ embodies the theme of the exhibit: an invitation to discover who Michelangelo was by using the different works to distinguish between the man and the myth, Radke said.
‘(The exhibit tries) to provide a portrait of who he was,’ he said.
Iacono explained that Michelangelo himself attempted to enhance his mystique, occasionally posing for portraits and even going as far as creating myths himself.
The stars of the exhibit are the original drawings. Many of these are sketches, studies or plans that give the viewer insight into the artist’s thought process, showing us the creative process in the works, he said.
Accompanying the drawings are other works by Michelangelo, including a bronze replica of his ‘Pieta.’ Also included in the collection are several Italian artists’ portraits of Michelangelo.
Radke said the most impressive piece in the exhibit is the ‘Plan for the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini’, an architectural drawing of a church in Rome.
Michelangelo’s design was done with mathematical accuracy and many of his drafting lines still show, demonstrating both his ability as an artist and as an architect.
‘(It) looks like an electrical device,’ Radke said of the complex drawing.
Radke was equally impressed with ‘Study for the Head of Leda.’ The picture has a red hue, and shows particular detail in the shading of the face. To the fine arts professor, this is the most beautiful piece in the exhibit. He marveled at how much beauty Michelangelo found in the woman.
‘How does a human do that?’ Radke asked.
Iacono said that one of the most popular pieces is the bronze cast of the Pieta. It is a life-size replica of the original marble statue in Vatican City. It depicts the Virgin Mary holding a limp-bodied Jesus, right down to the pulsating vein in Christ’s left arm.
With the cast is the original document that commissioned Michelangelo to carve the sculpture, which Iacono called the most beautiful thing in Rome. The sculpture was created 510 years ago on Wednesday, but it is the document, he said, that makes the piece special.
The exhibit opened to a record crowd and has continued to break attendance records. Iacono said that more than 4,000 people have already visited, including many families of new freshmen.
‘We’ve had gasps from a few,’ Iacono said.
The faculty members of the fine arts department appear pleased with the exhibit, especially now that their students have a chance to study the works of Michelangelo in depth right on their own campus.
‘The exhibition is an important one in that it provides a unique opportunity to Syracuse University students, faculty and staff, and to the surrounding community,’ said Wayne Franits, chair of the fine arts department in The College of Arts and Sciences.
However, student reactions have been mixed.
‘I haven’t seen it,’ said Jenna Bieri, a junior in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. ‘I don’t plan on it.’
Neither does Elizabeth Reid, a senior in The College of Arts and Sciences.
‘I haven’t really heard about it,’ she said.
But sophomores Alexandra Lipezker and Peter Randolph, both students in the School of Architecture, said they especially enjoyed the exhibit because of their backgrounds in architecture.
‘It’s really great to see the original drawings,’ Randolph said.
Coming up soon is a series of events that Radke and Iacono set up to supplement the exhibit and aide in the quest of discovering Michelangelo. The events will feature lectures and concerts, but Radke said the highlight will be the symposium held on Oct. 4, when several scholars will deliver formal, prepared lectures on Michelangelo.
‘The world’s most respected scholars … and leading experts (will attend),’ he said.
William E. Wallace, a Washington University in St. Louis professor who received his doctorate from Columbia University, is the most famous American scholar on the subject and will present several talks.
‘(This) gives us a track record for showing how well a show can be installed, promoted, supported and documented (here at Syracuse),’ Radke said.
Published on July 7, 2009 at 12:00 pm
