Michelangelo Labors to Make His Masterpiece—the Pieta

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born March 6, 1475, in Tuscany, Italy, and became, along with Leonardo da Vinci, the creative force behind the Italian Renaissance …. Over his lifetime [Michelangelo produced] a body of work that was as diverse as it was distinguished …. His most monumental achievement, though, is [his famous statue of Jesus and his mother Mary called] the Pieta.

The Pieta was commissioned on August 27, 1498. Not only was the work to be unsurpassed in its beauty, it ...