Michelangelo's Statues

Michelangelo’s statues of Moses and of Christ with the Cross are strikingly similar in posture. Assuming that they are both supposed to be placed in niches and viewed from the only angle available to someone in front of them, the two are in almost the same pose. They both have their heads turned to the left, so that the viewer sees only their profile. Each figure uses its right arm to hold the main object of their story, the tables and the cross respectively. The index finger of the right hand is the most prominent finger in each statue; Moses uses it to hold his impressive beard and Christ points his upward, toward heaven. Their left arms are bent and held across their bodies, showing muscle definition and veins. In both statues the left leg is back behind the figure, while the right leg, which is extended forward from the body, implies action. Viewed side by side the two figures are posed in a way that draws attention to the articles they are holding, and that also implies an action that is about to happen, (or in the case of Moses, may have just happened.)

Despite these similarities, though, the two figures exude a very different sort of tone to the viewer. Moses, who is meant to be looking at his people dancing around the golden calf, is obviously angry, with a scowling countenance and very tense looking limbs. The veins on his arms pop out noticeably and he looks as though he is about to spring up or is in the middle of sitting down. He holds the tables, which he smashes in the bible story, precariously under his arm, and he looks as though he is using his own left arm to restrain himself. Moses is monumental and daunting. He even has horns on his head, meant to represent rays of light, which are quite imposing. Christ’s figure, on the other hand, if viewed from the correct angle, seems rather slight and very graceful, (if viewed from the wrong angle he is kind of chunky and has a big bum.) He holds out the objects of His Passion to the viewer, but in a sort of reflective manner, as though He simply wishes us to consider them and contemplate their meaning. The cross is not nearly big enough to be anything more than a symbol, and Christ is not monumental, merely life size. He looks not at the viewer or at heaven, but toward the main alter of the church, suggesting that the attention of the viewer should be there as well. On the whole, the figure of Christ is much less imposing than that of Moses.

These differences speak of the different characters of Moses and Christ. Where Moses is supposed to have smashed the words of God in anger at seeing the people he led doing the opposite of what he told them, Christ is supposed to have looked upon his people in love although they weren’t doing things at all correctly. Obviously Michelangelo wanted these different personalities to come through in his work, and so each clue to the figures’ characters was a conscious choice. Overall, both statues are excellent at getting their respective points across.