Nude, not naked

My art history class spent a large portion of today walking to different riones, or regions, of Rome. We began at the Roman Forum to finish off the unit on Imperial Families. We noted Trajan’s Column and how it reinforced its reader to remember his life by reading his res gestae, or a visual depiction of his accomplishments, on a spiral tower. After a brief lunch break, we headed toward the Ponte Sisto Bridge for a brief introduction to the della Rovere Family. It was interesting to learn that even the Popes in this period of time were corrupt and governed the papacy with nepotism (favoring close friends family members).

We then headed to the church of Saint Peter in Chains and saw one of Michelangelo’s sculpted masterpieces: Moses. It was originally commissioned by Pope Julius II for his very own tombstone. Fun fact: as soon as you become a pope (or even the President of the United States), one of the first tasks you must focus and prepare for is your funeral. Unfortunately, Pope Julius II died before Michelangelo finished the sculpture. We discussed some of Freud’s remarks on this particular piece of art, psychoanalyzing all of the subtle details of Moses.

Moses in the middle.

After a brief gelato break, we booked our way towards the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. In it we observed another one of Michelangelo’s pieces, the Risen Christ. The figure is of Christ carrying the cross during the Passion and making his final ascension. This piece was considered very controversial because it originally depicted Christ in the nude (not to be mistaken for “naked,” as I learned earlier in class). When viewed from the right of the church, our class noted the stubby body imperfections that provided reasoning for why the sculpture was regarded as one of Michelangelo’s failures. However, when viewed from the left of the church, as originally intended, the sculpture appears to be a flawless depiction of Christ. Indeed, Michelangelo was a master at manipulating human anatomy in marble. Perception definitely played a huge factor in analyzing the message behind a work of art.

Passion of the Christ.