Arcadópolis
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Doni Tondo (The Holy Family)
Michelangelo, c. 1506–1507
What you see
Mary sits on the ground in the foreground and twists her torso to reach the Child over her shoulder. Joseph, old and bald, holds him from behind, and the Child rests a hand on her head. The three form a tight knot that fills the circle. Behind them, a low wall sets them apart from a group of nude young men and a boy looking upward.
The colors are bright and clean: pink, blue, orange and green, with crisp folds that look almost carved. Mary’s arms are strong and muscular. In the distance, blue mountains fade away on the right. Look for the bare feet in the grass, the tiny flowers in the foreground and the boy peering over the wall on the right.
About Michelangelo
Michelangelo Buonarroti saw himself above all as a sculptor, but the pope asked him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He worked for four years on scaffolding, painting hundreds of giant figures above his head. He was also an architect and a poet, and lived to be almost 89.
More by Michelangelo
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