Michelangelos Pieta

Michelangelo uses the principles and elements of art, namely directionality, shape and texture, to communicate a very important religious theme to his audience of the time. The theme is one of Christian redemption coupled with intense sorrow and suffering on the part of the Blessed Virgin Mother of God. Through line, shape and texture, Michelangelo conveys this sorrow for the audience to feel.

Directionality is one of the most important elements of art because it controls the movement of the eyes by getting them to follow a line within the artwork. Just as a filmmaker uses the frame of the camera to capture the eyes, the artist must use the material to direct the eyes around the work of art. That is where directionality comes into travel up the shoulder of the Virgin, against whose body the head is resting. The head of the Virgin is tilted down to see her Son, and the eyes of the viewer thus move up to meet hers. Her veil is rounded down to take the eyes back to her left hand, and that completes the loop. It is a triangular line that has a symbolic…