“I like to think that’s why the finest marble is white, so that it can wear the colors of every life that pauses in front of it.”
I think that one line captures the essence and beauty of these works. Though they remain unchanged, our perception of them changes as our lives unfold. What we once gaze upon as simply art, becomes a mirror that reflects our own humanity, understanding, and wisdom back at us. What began as art becomes the story of humanity’s raw, perpetual, unyielding search for something greater than self.
Thank you, James, for the opportunity to see and to be moved.
I find myself breathless, just now, having read your words and looked at these photos and heard their stories: my heart is ablaze with the light from within that, each of the sculptures shouts out into the universe. My first instinct will be to share your words and pictures with as many of the artists in my local community as I can reach. For what I see demonstrated here applies to every medium, any one of us is called to use, in our expression of what has heart and meaning in our precious earthly lives. The timing feels particularly poignant to me when there is so much darkness attempting to consume our souls. My intention in sharing this with whomever sees and reads your portrayals, is for those individuals to experience the spark of light within each of their own souls, and that once inspired, will find their own heart and soul connections with all other living beings, whether human, animal, plant or matter.
Thank you for such a wonderful article and featuring these beautiful sculptures. They are breathless. I've only seen a couple of them in person. I hope to see the others.
I was at the Louvre last week, on my honeymoon, the day before it was closed due to the riots. There were several times when the beauty of the works I encountered there literally took my breath away.
Reading The Agony and the Ecstacy in a high school Humanities class while studying some of these pieces was... well I still remember it over 20 years later. Absolutely stunning. At a time when our understanding of anatomy was... he moved forward more than just art. Glorious. I look forward to circling back and reading your piece (sorry, I got excited and I'm running out the door 😅)
Whey in High School (1962-1966) outside Boston, a friend’s mother filled her station wagon with a group of us and drove down to the New York World’s Fair. I remember vividly seeing “The Pieta” from that moving conveyor belt and weeping from the power and beauty of the sculpture. (I also remember my disappointment at naively believing that I would have been able to linger at my leisure, inspecting and touching the details of the work! )
These are indeed beautiful sculptures- the only one I haven’t seen is The Veiled Christ which I only know about through your excellent writing (it’s now on my bucket list). Thank you.
I had the fortune of seeing Berninin's sculpture and it is every bit of magic. I spent so much time looking at the texture, the expression, the tiny details... incredible feast for the eyes.
Grazie per questa carrellata di capolavori marmorei, è sorprendente pensare che secoli fa degli artisti abbiano saputo ricavare dal marmo opere eterne come queste.
Thank you for this article and so many of your other articles.
Beautifully written with so much information and insight.
“I like to think that’s why the finest marble is white, so that it can wear the colors of every life that pauses in front of it.”
I think that one line captures the essence and beauty of these works. Though they remain unchanged, our perception of them changes as our lives unfold. What we once gaze upon as simply art, becomes a mirror that reflects our own humanity, understanding, and wisdom back at us. What began as art becomes the story of humanity’s raw, perpetual, unyielding search for something greater than self.
Thank you, James, for the opportunity to see and to be moved.
I find myself breathless, just now, having read your words and looked at these photos and heard their stories: my heart is ablaze with the light from within that, each of the sculptures shouts out into the universe. My first instinct will be to share your words and pictures with as many of the artists in my local community as I can reach. For what I see demonstrated here applies to every medium, any one of us is called to use, in our expression of what has heart and meaning in our precious earthly lives. The timing feels particularly poignant to me when there is so much darkness attempting to consume our souls. My intention in sharing this with whomever sees and reads your portrayals, is for those individuals to experience the spark of light within each of their own souls, and that once inspired, will find their own heart and soul connections with all other living beings, whether human, animal, plant or matter.
Namaste. So be it. ❤️🙏
Thank you for such a wonderful article and featuring these beautiful sculptures. They are breathless. I've only seen a couple of them in person. I hope to see the others.
These are spectacular.
I was at the Louvre last week, on my honeymoon, the day before it was closed due to the riots. There were several times when the beauty of the works I encountered there literally took my breath away.
Reading The Agony and the Ecstacy in a high school Humanities class while studying some of these pieces was... well I still remember it over 20 years later. Absolutely stunning. At a time when our understanding of anatomy was... he moved forward more than just art. Glorious. I look forward to circling back and reading your piece (sorry, I got excited and I'm running out the door 😅)
The Veiled Christ is spectacular.
Whey in High School (1962-1966) outside Boston, a friend’s mother filled her station wagon with a group of us and drove down to the New York World’s Fair. I remember vividly seeing “The Pieta” from that moving conveyor belt and weeping from the power and beauty of the sculpture. (I also remember my disappointment at naively believing that I would have been able to linger at my leisure, inspecting and touching the details of the work! )
The pure mastery and perfection of those sculptures is sublime…
These are indeed beautiful sculptures- the only one I haven’t seen is The Veiled Christ which I only know about through your excellent writing (it’s now on my bucket list). Thank you.
I had the fortune of seeing Berninin's sculpture and it is every bit of magic. I spent so much time looking at the texture, the expression, the tiny details... incredible feast for the eyes.
Grazie per questa carrellata di capolavori marmorei, è sorprendente pensare che secoli fa degli artisti abbiano saputo ricavare dal marmo opere eterne come queste.