Michelangelo’s Prisoners Artwork Analysis
Basically, art cannot be considered much as an object of physical experience compared to its role as an instrument of knowledge. Particularly, art seems to possess the power to express and represent reality, although it is argued that it’s only through appreciating the properties of its expression and representation that we begin to recognize its meaning. Michelangelo is one artist in the history of mythology whose work of art is deeply rooted in modern practices. This prominent artist uses carving media to come up with his sculpt out of marble. Michelangelo’s artwork which he gave the title “prisoners.” It was created between c 1519-34, according to the available history records in Rome, Italy and still found in the same country up to today. Out of Michelangelo’s Prisoners (c 1519-34) artwork, the kind of oppression which takes place in the society can be clearly understood.
Michelangelo uses the sculpting technique. He curves the solid structure surface of marble to realize different types of human body parts which also take different postures. His sculptures are three-dimensional as they display the prisoner’s body parts from different angles. It’s also important to note that most of Michelangelo’s artwork seems to be unfinished which cannot be viewed as a coincidence. It is out of reasons that in his carvings he always left them unfinished (Parker 63).
In consideration to one of the Michelangelo’s artwork, the Dying slave, at louvre Museum in Paris, France, there is a lot we can deduce and learn from the art. First of all, the art has been celebrated due to its realism and dynamism which diligently resembles Roman sculpture. Near its left knee, there is a clear profile of monkeys head. As a whole, this statue closely resembles postures of detainees on the arches of the triumph of imperial Rome (Parker 67).
Given this statue body position, it appears to be in a violent juxtaposition of its arms and bonds around its back; this stands for a prisoner who is under mysterious constraint. The left arm of the statute is twisted slightly behind its back with the right foot being planted firmly on the base to depict a resolute effort to become free. Michelangelo has used an ascending spiral to make the statute dynamic. This alludes to the state of bondage, a condition of extreme constraint that demands escape at all cost. In other words, the statute expresses a resolute desire for spiritual, political and aesthetic freedom (Parker 70). Michelangelo has used several elements of art in his work. Although he has not been able to use all the elements of the art such as line, space, color and shape, he has vividly used some such as value, texture, and form (Jones and Jonathan 17).
The statute has been curved from a rough marble. This is an element of texture to imply the hard conditions of the prisoners in prison. An element of form is also noticeable in this Michelangelo’s artwork. The statute is three-dimensional having length, width, and height. The statute can be viewed from many sides. Finally, the element of value can also be seen in this work, Michelangelo makes use of dark background on his statute to give an implication of the doom environment surrounding the prisoners (Jones and Jonathan 18).
Michelangelo art is amazing on how he has used the design principles. Although he has not used all of them in this work, he has exhaustively used Emphasis, movement, and unity in this art. However, some design principles such as balance, variety, and proportion lack in the work (Parker 76).For instance, near the statute left knee, there is a clear profile of monkeys head. This catches the viewer’s attention because he is eager to know and understand the implication of this profile. This is emphasis according to principles of design. The statute has a side bent to shape, and this is likely to take the path of viewer’s eyes all through the statute. This is movement according to principles of design. Lastly, another evident design principle in this statute is unity; the left arm of the statute is twisted slightly behind its back, and the right foot is planted firmly on the base all to depict complete resolute efforts to become free (Jones and Jonathan 22).
Michelangelo is motivated by the events in the environment to come up with this art. There is oppression taking place, whereby the victims are tortured in prisons. However, the victims seem to be busy struggling to regain their freedom while still in those prisons. This is as indicated by the curved shape of the statute which seems to resist the oppression force being enacted on it (Jones and Jonathan 23).
In conclusion, I see the events explored by Michelangelo as an exact copy of the current world. Oppression is a major subject in today’s society. Ideally, those who attempt to resist repression are either silenced forever or find themselves paralyzed economically, socially and politically to hinder them from taking further actions in the struggle for their freedom. Similarly, this is the case outlined by the art. As a matter of fact, it is the endeavors of freedom which make us to endure and believe in the worth of life. Despite the persistence of the situations, we are bound to press on as long as the fight is geared towards deliberation. Forward forever, backward never (Jones and Jonathan 26).
