Ned Hardy

The Rodanini pieta, Michelangelo’s last ever work, is markedly different from anything he ever did before. Up until 6 days before his death at the age of 89, he was obsessively working on this piece until there was almost no marble left to work with

The Rondanini Pietà was Michelangelo’s final sculpture, a hauntingly unfinished depiction of the Virgin Mary supporting the body of Jesus after his crucifixion. Michelangelo continued working on it until just days before his death in 1564 at the age of 88, repeatedly carving away marble until the figures became unusually thin and elongated, a striking departure from the powerful, muscular figures of his earlier masterpieces. The sculpture is now housed in the Sforza Castle in Milan, Italy.