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| Bearded Slave | |
|---|---|
| Italian:Schiavo barbuto | |
 | |
| Artist | Michelangelo |
| Year | circa 1525–1530 |
| Type | sculpture |
| Medium | Marble |
| Dimensions | 263 cm (104 in) |
| Location | Galleria dell'Accademia,Firenze |
| Preceded by | Awakening Slave |
| Followed by | Medici Madonna |
TheBearded Slave (Italian:Schiavo barbuto) is amarble sculpture byMichelangelo datable to around 1525–1530 and kept in theGalleria dell'Accademia inFlorence. It forms part of the series of unfinished Prigioni intended for theTomb of Pope Julius II.
It seems that, from the first design of theTomb of Pope Julius II (1505), a series of "Prigioni" was planned for the bottom level of the mausoleum, a series of statues larger than life size of chained figures in various poses, leaning on pilasters which would frame niches containingwinged Victories and be surmounted by herms. With a pair on each side of each niche, there must initially have been sixteen or twenty such statues planned. This number was reduced in successive designs, to twelve (second version, 1513), eight (third version, 1516) and finally maybe only four (fourth version, 1526, or fifth version, 1532), before being eliminated from the project altogether in the final version of 1542.
The first members of the series, who are mentioned in Michelangelo's letters are the twoPrigioni of Paris, named the "Slaves" in the nineteenth century: theDying Slave and theRebellious Slave. They were carved inRome around 1513.
The FlorentinePrigioni (Young Slave, Bearded Slave,Atlas Slave and theAwakening Slave) were probably carved instead in the second half of the 1520s, while Michelangelo was employed atSan Lorenzo inFlorence (but historians suggest dates between 1519 and 1534). It is known that they were in the artist's warehouse on the via Mozza in 1544, when his nephew Leonardo Buonarroti asked permission to sell them (Michelangelo did not visit Florence after 1534). The permission was denied and only in 1564 were they donated, along withthe Genius of Victory, to the Grand DukeCosimo I who placed them at the four corners of theGrotto of Buontalenti in 1591. They were removed from there in 1908, in order to be reunited with other works of Michelangelo in the Florentine gallery.
With respect to the exact date, Justi (and others) propose 1519, on the basis of a letter of 13 February, in whichJacopo Salviati promised the cardinal Aginesis, Julius II's heir, that the sculptor would have the four figures for the tomb ready by the summer of that year; Wilde proposes 1523, pointing to a statement of the cardinal Giulio de' Medici (the futureClement VII) who had seen them before he departed for Rome in that year; finallyde Tolnay dates them to 1530–1534 on the basis on their style, frequent references to incomplete sculptures for the pope's tomb in letters of 1531–2 andVasari's statement that they were created while the artist was preparing the cartoon ofThe Last Judgment.
TheBearded Slave is the most finished of the FlorentinePrigioni and gets his name from his thick, curly beard. The way his muscular torso twists indicates a deep knowledge of anatomy, typical of the best works of Michelangelo; his legs, slightly bent and separated, are covered by a band of fabric. His right arm is raised to hold his bent head, while his left hand remains unfinished, but seems to hold the band of fabric.
The whole surface retains many traces of the various chisels and scrapers used on the sculpture. Along his hips there is a repaired fracture, whose cause is unknown.
Its unfinished state creates an extraordinary energy (already noted by Bocchi in 1591), with the figure caught in a sort of primordial act of freeing himself from the cage of the rough stone, an epic battle with the forces of chaos. The iconographic meaning of the figures was probably linked to the motif of thecaptivi in Roman art, and indeedVasari identified thePrigioni as personifications of the provinces controlled by Julius II. ForCondivi, however, they symbolised the Arts, made "prisoners" by the death of the pontif. Other scholars have made proposals of a philosophical/symbolic character or connected to the artist's personal life and his "torments".
Media related toBearded Slave by Michelangelo Buonarroti at Wikimedia Commons