839: Pietà by Michelangelo: Marble, 1499

The Slowdown: Poetry & Reflection Daily

American Public Media

Arts, Performing Arts

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 22 March 2023

⏱️ 5 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today’s poem is Pieta by Michelangelo: Marble, 1499 by Darrel Alejandro Holnes. The Slowdown is your daily poetry ritual. In this episode, guest host Jason Schneiderman writes… “Today’s poem considers an unpainted statue by Michelangelo, depicting Mary holding her son Jesus just after his removal from the cross. I remember seeing this statue when I was very young and being deeply moved both by the posture of Mary’s sorrow, and by the incredible skill of sculpting, by which the cold marble seems as warm and soft as flesh. Here, the poet wonders what color might do to us as the light carrying the image of the statue enters our eyes.” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

Transcript

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0:00.0	Today's episode is guest-hosted by the poet Jason Schneiderman.
0:06.2	Don't worry, I'll be back in your feeds on March 27th.
0:16.0	I am Jason Schneiderman, and this is the slowdown.
0:30.0	Recently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
0:33.2	there was an exhibit called Chroma,
0:35.5	Ancient Sculpture in Color.
0:38.0	It turns out that originally all of those austere,
0:41.8	tasteful, restrained statues I love visiting at the Met
0:45.4	were actually brightly painted.
0:48.2	And that the color palette of the ancient world
0:50.9	might have been closer to the joyful blues and reds
0:53.8	of Frida Kahlo's home decor
0:55.9	than to the self-consciously sober off whites
0:58.4	of the Lincoln Memorial.
1:00.6	I have not gone to the exhibit,
1:02.8	which features reconstructions of the statues I love.
1:06.3	I am still attached to the very wrong idea
1:09.4	that those statues are meant to be seen in Monochrome.
1:13.1	I was taught that bright colors are kitschy and tacky,
1:16.9	but that plain materials like marble or wood or glass
1:20.5	are dignified and beautiful.
1:23.1	But this exhibit made me wonder.
	...

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