Author's Note:
When I was first introduced to my sculpture, My first impression was that it simply represented loss. Upon further research I learned of the history behind its title, "Pieta" and how this sculpture likely drew a large amount of inspiration from the classic pieta in Vatican City. The focus of my paper then began to aim towards the similarities and differences between the two works of art, as I tried to figure out why Lucchesi chose to recreate this piece. He obviously wanted to send a similar message, but one that also held a more secular meaning. For my final Draft, I added an entire third body paragraph with focus directly aimed at the subject matter of the piece itself and how it creates a single "moment in time." My goal with this paragraph was to show the audience how this moment being created is possibly the strongest connection of all between Lucchesi's pieta and the classic. I next went on to develop a more defined conclusion, as prior to this final draft, it was hard to tell if my paper really had one or not. The largest goal of my conclusion was to tie my paper together in a manner which re-enforced my opening thesis and argument. I then went back and added several hyperlinks I was missing, as well as slightly modified my argument to better match the flow of the paper. Overall I enjoyed this assignment, just because it was something quite different from anything I had ever worked on before.
Final Draft:
The sculpture I was assigned for this final writing project is entitled Pieta and was created by a man named Bruno Lucchesi in 1970. It is composed of bronze and rests upon an cement block base. At it's highest point, 
the sculpture stands about five feet off the ground and is about six feet long. It is located to the side of the art gallery and is surrounded on three sides by shrubs about six feet tall. The subject matter of the sculpture itself includes what appears to be an old, sickly looking man, possibly dead, lying in a bed with a woman draped over his legs, face down, possibly crying, with her hand up sort of reaching towards him. Luccesi is trying to make the argument through this piece that no matter who we are or where we come from, we all share a common bond of shared suffering and loss. He most strongly makes this point through the context surrounding the artwork itself including the sculpture's location, title and subject matter.
I was able to get the theme of "loss of a loved one" on my own before I had done any further research on the piece. When I began to explore the meaning of the title Pieta, I discovered that not only did this sculpture convey a seen of "Loss of a loved one" but that it also mirrored the theme of a classic sculpture also entitled Pieta, located in Vatican City and co
mposed by the great Michelangelo. His piece also included a woman mourning the loss of a man, but the man in this case was Jesus Christ after his crucifixion and the woman was his mother Mary.(Wiki) The similarities and matching titles are too great to be just coincidences, but there are also several striking differences present, so I believe Luccesi wanted the audience to make the connection between these two sculptures, but then derive meaning from the differences between them. This is where I came up with the idea of "No matter who we are or where we come from" coupled with the obvious theme of loss presented by the subject matter itself. If we look at the dead men in each of the pieces, one is Jesus Christ, a young man who obviously meant the world to his mother Mary, and was brutally murdered. If we look at the man in Luccesi's Pieta, we see a much older individual who seems o have endured a much more peaceful death, likely due to age. The difference is who these men were in life, but the similarity is that they were both valued in life but are now no longer alive. There ar
e also differences between the two women. The women in Michelangelo's Pieta if obviously the mans mother, and has jesus cradled in her lap. The other sculpture instead has the women draped over the top of the dead man and also appears younger, which suggests that maybe she was his daughter. This shows a difference in relationship during these individuals lives, but none the less, they are both here mourning the death of these loved ones.
Prior to this project I have been on campus for almost a full semester and walk by the art museum almost every day on the way to class. I had seen many of the sculptures my classmates were assigned many times, but oddly I had never even known the sculpture I was assigned, Pieta, even existed. This is completely due to the location of this piece of artwork. Most of the sculptures on campus are located out in the middle of open courtyards, visible from all sides and from long distances away. Pieta is tucked away right to the side of the art museum, surrounded on three sides by thick shrubs all standing about six feet high. The only way to see the
statue completely is to actually walk off the sidewalk, up beside the building. I found this interesting, as it was obviously no accident that this one statue was put here like this. Whoever placed this statue here wanted the audience to have to make an effort in order to see the full content of this piece. Maybe the assumption was that if someone was willing to put enough effort to go out of their way to see the piece, that maybe they would also care enough to look what the title was and make that connection between this Pieta and the one from Vatican City. The shrubs themselves also have an interesting effect on the manner in which this sculpture can be viewed. Firstly, they are taller then the statue on all sides, causing the sculpture to always be in at least some amount of shadow. When an object appears dark, the audience naturally picks up a mood of sadness or depression which I believe was the mood Lucchesi was going for as this piece is obviously not a happy topic. Another interesting connection that can be made is that Vatican city itself is surrounded by walls and the shrubs surrounding Lucchesi's Pieta also create an illusion of walls surrounding the statue. This works to bring the two statues closer together in the audiences mind so that they may focus more on the differences. With respect to the argument I believe Lucchesi is making, I would say that the location, in the shade surrounded by walls of shrub, acts to build on this depressing mood and theme of loss as well as mimic the situation in which the classic pieta is presented, building on the idea of "everyone will lose those who they love most, no matter where they are." This connection between Lucchesi's and Michelangelo's Pieta is important because the argument being made focuses on a common theme between different elements.
the sculpture stands about five feet off the ground and is about six feet long. It is located to the side of the art gallery and is surrounded on three sides by shrubs about six feet tall. The subject matter of the sculpture itself includes what appears to be an old, sickly looking man, possibly dead, lying in a bed with a woman draped over his legs, face down, possibly crying, with her hand up sort of reaching towards him. Luccesi is trying to make the argument through this piece that no matter who we are or where we come from, we all share a common bond of shared suffering and loss. He most strongly makes this point through the context surrounding the artwork itself including the sculpture's location, title and subject matter.I was able to get the theme of "loss of a loved one" on my own before I had done any further research on the piece. When I began to explore the meaning of the title Pieta, I discovered that not only did this sculpture convey a seen of "Loss of a loved one" but that it also mirrored the theme of a classic sculpture also entitled Pieta, located in Vatican City and co
mposed by the great Michelangelo. His piece also included a woman mourning the loss of a man, but the man in this case was Jesus Christ after his crucifixion and the woman was his mother Mary.(Wiki) The similarities and matching titles are too great to be just coincidences, but there are also several striking differences present, so I believe Luccesi wanted the audience to make the connection between these two sculptures, but then derive meaning from the differences between them. This is where I came up with the idea of "No matter who we are or where we come from" coupled with the obvious theme of loss presented by the subject matter itself. If we look at the dead men in each of the pieces, one is Jesus Christ, a young man who obviously meant the world to his mother Mary, and was brutally murdered. If we look at the man in Luccesi's Pieta, we see a much older individual who seems o have endured a much more peaceful death, likely due to age. The difference is who these men were in life, but the similarity is that they were both valued in life but are now no longer alive. There ar
e also differences between the two women. The women in Michelangelo's Pieta if obviously the mans mother, and has jesus cradled in her lap. The other sculpture instead has the women draped over the top of the dead man and also appears younger, which suggests that maybe she was his daughter. This shows a difference in relationship during these individuals lives, but none the less, they are both here mourning the death of these loved ones.Prior to this project I have been on campus for almost a full semester and walk by the art museum almost every day on the way to class. I had seen many of the sculptures my classmates were assigned many times, but oddly I had never even known the sculpture I was assigned, Pieta, even existed. This is completely due to the location of this piece of artwork. Most of the sculptures on campus are located out in the middle of open courtyards, visible from all sides and from long distances away. Pieta is tucked away right to the side of the art museum, surrounded on three sides by thick shrubs all standing about six feet high. The only way to see the
statue completely is to actually walk off the sidewalk, up beside the building. I found this interesting, as it was obviously no accident that this one statue was put here like this. Whoever placed this statue here wanted the audience to have to make an effort in order to see the full content of this piece. Maybe the assumption was that if someone was willing to put enough effort to go out of their way to see the piece, that maybe they would also care enough to look what the title was and make that connection between this Pieta and the one from Vatican City. The shrubs themselves also have an interesting effect on the manner in which this sculpture can be viewed. Firstly, they are taller then the statue on all sides, causing the sculpture to always be in at least some amount of shadow. When an object appears dark, the audience naturally picks up a mood of sadness or depression which I believe was the mood Lucchesi was going for as this piece is obviously not a happy topic. Another interesting connection that can be made is that Vatican city itself is surrounded by walls and the shrubs surrounding Lucchesi's Pieta also create an illusion of walls surrounding the statue. This works to bring the two statues closer together in the audiences mind so that they may focus more on the differences. With respect to the argument I believe Lucchesi is making, I would say that the location, in the shade surrounded by walls of shrub, acts to build on this depressing mood and theme of loss as well as mimic the situation in which the classic pieta is presented, building on the idea of "everyone will lose those who they love most, no matter where they are." This connection between Lucchesi's and Michelangelo's Pieta is important because the argument being made focuses on a common theme between different elements.The last element I found in Pieta which I found to be crucial to the argument of "
shared loss" would be subject matter withing Lucchesi's piece itself. As stated earlier, this sculpture contains a dead man lying in bed with a loved one lying over him crying. This seen portrays a specific moment in time with specific emotions, comparable to thos of the Lucchesi by Michelangelo. When you think about it, both men were were of high importance to the women near them, and at this particular point, they are probably cared about more than they had ever been during life. The woman in Lucchesi's sculpture has her hand awkwardly stretched out towards the mans face as if she simply cannot bear the loss of this individual. Nextly, both men, who had likely both endured alot, are finally at rest in this moment. Lastly, both women are frozen in this moment of highest grief and loss. This idea of "frozen in a moment of time" is comparable to the classic poem, Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats. The poem describes this idea of how the elements on the urn will forever live in that moment, similar to elements within both Lucchesi's and Michelangelo's sculptures. (Wiki) It is important to notice how although these two sculptures are far different in appearance, they share this "Moment in time" with very similar emotions.
Artwork can always be interpreted several ways and it is quite possible that Lucchesi's Pieta had other motivations, but what we do know is that he chose to pursue the direction preset by a classic piece of art, from another direction. This relationship in and with itself sets up the scenario of different situations with the same ending. I feel this matches my argument pretty well, and I feel it holds a message that all can learn from. Lucchesi uses context to its fullest to convey the meaning of this piece, as its location, history and subject matter all play a key role in giving Pieta a real meaning.
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