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“Art is never finished, only abandoned!”
- Leonardo da Vinci
Truly, art is meant to be lived as a journey, not as a finished product. That’s why this famous quote of Leonardo da Vinci, the most prominent rival of the legendary Renaissance artist, Michelangelo Buonarotti matters here. Few artists in history have created waves in art history as profoundly as Michelangelo for his untold art! It is said that nearly three-fifth of his works remained unfinished!!
Michelangelo was greatly admired for his extensive works on the dome of Sistine Chapel, the elaborate frescos and mostly for his architectural marvels and his genius as a sculptor. He continues to inspire artists and sculptors to this day, even after his death in 1564. No wonder the Sistine Chapel drawings and sculptures like David or Pieta earned him much fame, but did you know that he was also revered for his unfinished masterpieces, that offer us a great insight into his artistic process, introspection, and ideas behind each work he undertook?
In this blog, we would like to catch up with some of Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures and paintings, frozen in time, to reveal the raw essence of his genius and his true intentions behind those creations. Let’s find out why he left these works unfinished, and what really contributed to leaving his dreams unrealized?
What Fascinates Artists to Leave Unfinished Works?
"Genius is eternal patience."
– Michelangelo
‘Non finito’ or unfinished in Italian, holds a special place in the history of art, and it is also the same for someone as phenomenal as Michelangelo. They are not that polished and refined as their finished counterparts, but still, they have greater significance for the art-lovers, artists, and art historians as they share a rare glimpse of artistic technique, making the transformation visible from raw marble to near-living form. For Michelangelo, the rough texture of the untouched stone and the emerging figure often adds a mystic angle to the sculpture, as if the figures are trying to convey some message from the confinement in stone.
The Probable Reasons behind the Unfinished Michelangelo Paintings
Michelangelo was known for his perfectionist vision and that impacted some of his works to be left in pursuit of perfection. He was secretive about his artistic procedures and invested much time in his studio. Some of his works were left incomplete due to time constraints, shifting priorities, or commissions that were never fully realized, which can also be the valid reasons for his incomplete works. His unfinished works provide art lovers and historians with valuable insights into his artistic philosophy and a window to his soul, to be unveiled.
Michelangelo Unfinished Paintings: “The Entombment”– The Crouching Mary was Never Painted!
Unfinished renaissance paintings have fascinated viewers for thousands of years. The last works of artists and their unfinished works are more admired compared to the ones that are already finished, because in them we can see the marks of the preliminary drawings, along with the artist's actual thoughts behind the creations. ‘The Entombment’ painting by Michelangelo was incomplete, and in its unfinished state, the details of the paintings help us to go about the precise portions of the artwork minutely, while the lighter sections of the paintings show marks of an ongoing progress compared to the colored portion.
Though unintentionally, these incomplete spaces lead us to the artist’s mind and we start to read the painting or creations as a narrative, gripping and awe-inspiring. This painting shows the entombment procedure of crucified Jesus who would be taken to the tomb sometime after he’s been taken down from the cross. At the later stage of the painting, Michelangelo left to put the wound marks on the hands, feet, and thigh of Jesus. The figure that can be seen in the bottom right corner of the painting can possibly be of a kneeling figure of Virgin Mary. Though Michelangelo was commissioned for this creation in 1500, he started with David in 1501, and then he invested much time carving a marvel out of this heroic figure!
It is believed that Michelangelo waited to paint the cloak of Virgin Mary (the missing and crouching figure) with ultramarine blue which was a costly pigment that was to be procured from a rare stone called Lapiz Lazuli, found in Afghanistan. In fact, the green and the red pigments used in the figures also faded over the time losing their shine as they had during the time of creation.
Remarkably enough, we can see a silhouette of the tomb far behind, left to be painted, but giving us a hint of the whole theme.
One of Michelangelo’s Unfinished Sculptures - The Captives (The Prisoners)
Intriguing enough, ‘The Captives’ or the prisoners were unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo, because they were never fully completed or implemented. He originally designed the figures for the grand tomb of Pope Julius II. There are the ‘awakening slave,’ ‘young slave,’ ‘the bearded slave,’ and ‘the atlas slave,’ that depicts human forms struggling to emerge from their marble encasement. That’s why they are referred to as slaves! The mythological figures appear trapped within the stone, as we can imagine by their contorted bodies inside the stones.
Some art historians and critics believe that this has a deep psychological meaning – a symbol of the eternal struggle of the human soul. Whatever be the truth, ‘The Captives’ remain some of the most compelling examples of his ‘non finito’ works, demonstrating the power of unfinished art to evoke deep emotions.
The Last of Unfinished Michelangelo Sculptures: The Rondanini Pietà
Michelangelo worked on Pietà previously, and he came back to the same theme later in his life. It is undoubtedly one of his most delicate sculptures, depicting the Virgin Mary holding the body of Jesus after the Crucifixion. But this Rondanini Pietà was different from his youthful Vatican Pietà, and was left unfinished.
The Rondanini Pietà, Mary holding the crucified body of Jesus, is different in style. It is much more elongated with the fragile figures that seem to dissolve into one another. The former Pietà showed a classical robustness, while this later version was almost like dissolving figures, depicting a sense of grief and resignation. Most historians think of this shift as something similar to his aging and growing sense of mortality and vulnerability. Something interesting to note, he worked on this figure of Pietà until a few days before his death!
The Battle of Cascina: One of His Famous Unfinished Paintings
While Michelangelo was more dedicated to sculpture, he gifted us with some remarkable paintings too. One of his most ambitious but ultimately unfinished projects was ‘The Battle of Cascina,’ a grand fresco commissioned for the Hall of the Five Hundred in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio. He intended to honor a historic Florentine military victory through his large mural that was meant to rival Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Battle of Anghiari.’ But unfortunately, both the murals were left incomplete.
Other than some detailed preparatory sketches and a full-scale draft for fresco, Michelangelo couldn’t finish it and left for Rome. The surviving sketches still evoke a sense of awe with their dynamic and muscular composition, filled with movement and intense physicality. Artists were much influenced by these preparatory sketches though; Raphael was one of them!
The Tomb of Pope Julius II: A Tragedy of Unfinished Dreams
‘The Tomb of Pope Julius II’ is regarded as one of his most dreamt of, yet frustrating projects of his career as a sculptor. It was going to be a monumental, intricately layered structure, with over forty statues, but was not completed due to some political unrest and shifting papal priorities, etc. The elaborate project was scaled down.
Michelangelo worked on the tomb for over four decades, including the majestic statue of Moses, the central figure of the majestic sculpture. But he could only realize a little portion of what he had dreamt. This reminds us of some unpredictable realities that even the greatest artists must face.
Why Michelangelo’s Incomplete Works Matter!
Quite intriguingly, Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures and paintings offer a deeper relation to the artist than his completed masterpieces. They reveal the physical effort involved in sculpting, the sketches and thoughts behind his paintings and his obsession with perfection. This had led him to abandon projects rather than settle for anything less than extraordinary.
These incomplete works remind us that even the master artists are sometimes unable to realize their visions. What remains is no less significant – this incompleteness adds to their mystery and allure of their works even more!
Michelangelo: An Unfinished Legacy to be Lived Forever
Michelangelo probably would not have wished to have his unfinished paintings for a public display! He would rather abhor the idea, as he was touchy and very much obsessed with his works. Some of his drawings or rough sketches are kept in the Louvre Museum, and they show the intricate anatomy behind his figure drawings. He felt that his figure drawings are best when they are closest to sculpture, that’s why he painted them one at a time, as followed in egg-tempera techniques, but very rarely seen in oil paintings.
While most drawings and sketches are lost to time, unfinished works of these great artists tell us to some extent about the idea and the artistic journey of the creator, in a raw format, without any inhibition. They help the viewers to break down the art more easily and decode the unspoken words. They humanize the great artworks while including the viewers as a witness to the masterful strokes that were never realized!
As we gaze upon these raw yet profoundly moving Michelangelo sculptures and sketches, we are reminded that the true essence of art is not always in its completion, but in the journey of creation itself. And, that’s the beauty of it!
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