Date of Submission

Spring 2020

Academic Program

Art History

Project Advisor 1

Katherine Morris Boivin

Abstract/Artist's Statement

This project explores three significant moments in the history of reception of Michelangelo's Pietà, demonstrating changes of the Pietà's meaning according to that of its location, the era, and groups of spectators. The project first introduce reception of the Pietà around the time of its creation, focusing on the polemic opinions of Renaissance artists who have seen the sculpture in person. It then analyzes reception of the sculpture during the age of Grand Tour, when the audience group of British aristocrats shows notably limited interest in the sculpture. Finally, it talks about reception of the Pietà during the occation of the 1964 New York World's Fair, during when the sculpture was exhibited in Queens, NY, and it shows that while the three involved group of viewers, the Vatican, the fair committee, and general visitors to the fair, had different interests in the sculpture, they commonly recognized it as an icon of Christianity, an international representative of the Vatican City, and a masterpiece of Classical art that deserved special attention.

Open Access Agreement

Open Access

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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