The Master of Marble
A young artist who grew up in Florence, Italy, in the late 1400’s made statues so beautiful that century later people travel from around the world to see them. At 23 the artist, Michelangelo Buonaroti, completed his first pieta (a representation showing Mary mourning over the body of her dead son, Jesus).The tools Michelangelo used were like those of the ancient Egyptians. But the marble stone Michelangelo used for his statues was far better than limestone.
Marble is hard and long-lasting. The early Romans used marble for their temples and statues. By the 1500’s, Italian sculptors were masters at working with marble. And Michelangelo was the best of them all.
Michelangelo often chose his own blocks of marble at the quarries in Carrara, Italy. He searched for a block with even colouring and no tiny cracks. Then he planned the perfect sculpture for each block. Michelangelo often spoke of his work as freeing figures from the stone.
First, he shaped a small model in wax. Next, he “roughed out” the figure in marble. To do this, he used a heavy hammer and metal points to knock away large chunks of stone. To hack away smaller chunks, Michelangelo used a lighter bronze hammer.
To bring out the figure’s details, Michelangelo used chisels and rasps, or files. Finally, he polished the marble until it glowed. For this, he used pumice – a kind of stone people use to smooth rough skin on their feet.
Picture Credit : Google
