Another look at "Moses" and the "Risen Christ"

This is another look at the two pieces by Michelangelo: "Moses" and the "Risen Christ"

Distortion…two pieces equally beautiful and yet at the same time distorted on different counts. The story of Moses: changed? edited? a metaphor? Christ misshapen, ungraceful and yet perfect from the left?

The “Risen Christ”- nude, chunky, bulging, imperfect and yet beautiful, graceful when viewed from the left. Questions raised, statue pushed aside as a failure, a disaster and then someone looked again and saw beauty, saw a new angle that revived the perfection of the piece. Move to the left, do not look into the face of Christ and Christ evolves, the further left the more Christ slims, becomes graceful, until…perfection. His leg wraps about the cross, the symbols of the Passion grasped in his hand, the smooth peace of his face glowing.

Questions…each piece leaves the viewer with questions, a feeling as though something has not been answered, as though one is left to search through their own mind to piece together the mystery.

Freud questions Michelangelo’s intent with “Moses.” Did Michelangelo rewrite the story with Moses saving the Tablets? Does the placement of the fingers in the beard denote Moses pausing from his rage, choosing to stop and not throw the Tablets to the ground? Is the metaphor Michelangelo and Pope Julius II’s tormented relationship? Is there more to the statue that appears at first glance? Can you really read into a statue?

Answers…Moses angry, Christ serene and yet the questions still flow, the hypotheses flower, the conclusions are drawn. But, who knows, can you really solve the puzzle of the statues? Can anyone assume that the position of the finger, or the angle of the viewer is part of the intent of the artist? Without these questions art would become obsolete, without the desire to understand and conclude from artwork one would simply have a carved piece of marble-lifeless. The questioning brings life to the statues.

Both statues lead to questions. They make you think. It is a question of intent, of motive. Christ is not an imperfect statue. Michelangelo sculpted for a different vantage point. He did not rewrite the story of Moses. Moses clutches his beard, not to steady himself, but to contain his rage. His foot poised for movement, he is not calming, but rising to action. Maybe Moses is Michelangelo’s statement that he wants to rise up and break the Tablets as well. Michelangelo’s sly way of telling off Pope Julius. These are my answers. This is what I saw. Because I questioned, because I paused to ask, the statues came to life. I was able to question the intent of the artist and come to a conclusion of my own.

The power of art comes from the study of art. An artist’s intent reveals volumes about the artist, the time period, the commissioner. Behind every beautiful painting and sculpture is a story waiting to be revealed.