Michelangelo and Rodin: Thinking Outside

Michelangelo and Rodin: Thinking Outside the Box

One of the most common catch phrases of our day is "think outside the box." Every generation assumes this is a new responsibility they must assume in order for things to progress when the truth is most innovative thinkers, creators, and artists thought outside the box all the time. Two artists to successfully think outside the box and literally change the art world where Michelangelo and Auguste Rodin. Both artists attempted to reach for more than what they knew and they understood the power of art. Each man knew capability was something to which he could aspire and what he could achieve was limitless. They were artistic visionaries, and dared to represent life realistically. They wanted not only to capture real emotion but they wanted everyone looking at their work to feel the emotion they were attempting to convey. From Michelangelo's David and Pieta to Rodin's The Thinker and The Kiss, we see moments of real emotions, frozen in time executed masterfully. These two men represent art as it is meant to be experienced and expressed.

Michelangelo was a product of the Renaissance and his art stems from desire to capture the living in his work. Two pieces that display Michelangelo's superb craftsmanship are Pieta and David. With the creation of Pieta, Michelangelo challenged himself to "concentrate on what he called the heart's image" constituting the "finest work in marble which Rome can show today'" (Pettit 33). This statue took three years to complete and, as we might expect, it breaks from traditional depictions of this historical event. Michelangelo wanted to portray Jesus a different light and justified his beautiful creation by saying, "If life pleases us, death, being made by the hands of the same creator, should not displease us" (Michelangelo qtd. Pettit 33). The expressions on the faces of Mary and Jesus are realistic but Mary is not suffering with grief, she is at peace because her son is at peace. David reflects man in a way that is visually complete. His features are well defined and cohesive; Michelangelo paid exquisite attention to the details of this sculpture, ensuring the viewer would see life when gazing upon it. Physically, Pieta and David reveal how Michelangelo struggled to bring every physical element of living tissue to life. Every aspect of the bodies flows in harmony. From every angle, each of these pieces shows us something new about the piece and the essence Michelangelo attempted to capture. Our eyes move across these pieces, capturing different angles and moods.

Rodin was a product of the nineteenth century and three-dimensional art in sculpting was "not readily adaptable to the optical realism favored" (1010) by artists and the public alike. Jean-Baptist Carpeaux and Augustus Saint-Gaudens improved sculpting but Rodin introduced many new ideas and styles that left lasing impressions. He "modified" the Realism movement by implementing several styles into his work including Impressionism and Symbolism and in the process created a personal style that "anticipated twentieth-century Expressionism" (1011). Rodin attempted to look beyond what was being taught in art schools in his day. His studied Michelangelo and Puget and desired to express the "existential situation of modern man, his inability to communicate, his despair" (1011). The Thinker is Rodin's most famous piece of art. Rodin put much care and consideration into this piece, noting that what makes the thinker so spectacular is the fact that the thinker expresses the "effort of thought through the contraction of each and every muscle" (Neret 35). Deborah Silverman notes that while the thinker might be "inactive but not at rest" (261). Thinking is not what we consider a physical activity, but Rodin displays how it is such. The Kiss demonstrates Rodin's style as well. He captures a moment in time, just as Michelangelo does. It is a moment of great anticipation. These works, as moments of anticipation reveal Rodin's Realist influence with their anatomical correctness. The symbolism is clear, as we watch something beautiful about to unfold in something ordinary. His Impressionistic influences can be seen with the effects of lighting in each statue. These statues represent Rodin's attempt illustrate life through subtle variations of planes that catch light.