In my project I wasn't really sure where to start in addressing my sculpture. I started by making an outline of what I wanted to say to it. This is where I came across a problem: I felt that I was addressing the young girl in the sculpture more than the sculpture as a whole. While at first I was hesitant to do this, I now feel like this is a good thing. The young girl in the sculpture is who I can relate the most to. It makes sense as to why I would talk to her.
Along with the basic structure of my letter I had problems finding an argument in my sculpture. It wasn't until I started writing my reflections and observations that I realized the argument of this sculpture. It really just kind of hit me. That moment was super cool for me and definitely helped me write the rest of my letter. Instead of presenting the argument right away I tried to relate it to a letter. In a letter it seems like it always starts out with the basic "small talk" and develops into something much deeper. I feel that this definitely happens within my letter. I start building paragraph by paragraph to my argument. I definitely thought it would be effective to start with my first observations of the sculpture and then move on to there.
In the revisions of my first draft I changed a few things as well as added on a little bit. A lot of word choice was changed as well as moving around a few paragraphs for a better flow. I wanted to start with my basic observations, move into the physically rhetorical choices,and slowly get into the pathos and the context of the sculpture. I feel like this draft does just that. I also changed one of my pictures into the veiny hands. This picture came off more effective to me and showed what I was trying to put across well.
Overall, I am very pleased with the way this project turned out. It turned out a million times better than I expected. I definitely feel that this project, as well as the other two, have really left a good impression on me.
WP3: Rough Draft
WP3: Statement of Purpose
Dear Pieta,
Have I come too late? His elderly head nods down with eyes closed, his chest motionless. At the touch of his fragile hand a chill as cold as death can be felt. Looking upon these cold, colorless hands I can see his veins. He must have been quite sick.
And look at you: draped across his legs with your head in your arms. Do not lay there and feel sorrow. Look at how peaceful he looks: His arms lay gently next to him, his eyes closed, and a slight smile on his face. There was no struggle. He no longer can feel the pain, the sickness that he has been enduring. But it is obvious that you are in pain. The sculpture that which you are stands as a memory of this moment: the pieta and pain felt in this tragic situation.
Pieta, you are made of bronze: a strong metal that can withstand much weathering. The everlasting presence of this metal is like the memory in your mind. While the bronze may oxidize and leave marks from its experience with the weather, it will still stand. Similarly, while your memory of your loved one may slightly fade away as you grow old, you will never forget this moment: it will continue to stand.
It is interesting to note how you were constructed. You are not made of solid bronze, and instead a plaster with bronze poured over. This may have been done by a lost wax method of first molding the sculpture, then making a mold or wax of the sculpture to later be covered in bronze. It is as if a mold was placed over the exact moment you experienced and then preserved. It is interesting how you were molded and how you respond to the environment around you. On one of my past visits with you after a rainstorm it was shown how the pitch in slope of the bed helps develop ideas within those who view you. The rain had trickled down the bed and formed a puddle around your head. It was like the puddle of tears that may have existed in the real moment. You were constructed carefully and thoughtfully- bringing realism and life to this frozen moment in time.
Obvious pathos, mentioned in CDA p.274, is developed with me when looking upon you. The realistic nature of you and your loved one puts this sculpture in terms I can relate to. It’s almost like I’m sitting there with you in reality. The way your body is positioned in deep mourning is very obviously shown and sparks pathos within me. I can relate to the body language shown and can think of moments in which I have felt what you are feeling. I have gone through the loss of a loved one as well. Sympathy is developed in me while looking at you because of this. I think of my grandfather lying on the bed with his head down and eyes closed and how devastated I was. I put myself in your exact place.
Pieta; I feel odd for intruding on such a personal moment. From the sidewalk not much of you can be seen, for you are surrounded by large bushes. These bushes develop an intimate, secluded feel to the environment in which I look upon you. No other sculptures or other people can be seen. You and your loved one, on this bed, is the only focus. Along with separating this private moment from the surroundings, the bushes also cast a gloomy shadow over you. This contributes to the sorrow you bring to me.
Pieta, you are modeled after another sculpture that shares your name by Michelangelo. This sculpture consists of Mother Mary with the crucified Jesus draped across her lap. There are some similarities that exist between you and this sculpture in subject placement and the overall look, but there are some obvious differences as well. One of the main differences between you and Michelangelo’s Pieta is the roles of the subjects. In Michelangelo’s piece the younger subject is deceased and the older subject feels the sorrow. There is a reversal of roles when it comes to you. You are draped across the bed in a similar fashion of Jesus in Michelangelo’s piece, but instead of being deceased are in great sorrow.
When thinking about why Bruno Lucchesi, the one who made you, would reverse these roles it made me think of how universal and everlasting death , and the sorrow it brings, can be. It does not matter what culture, what religion, or what role the deceased one is in when it comes to the sorrow that can be felt when losing a loved one. This is why Lucchesi reversed these roles: to show that emotions, in this situation grief, can be very universal and felt by anyone, anywhere. Pieta, or sorrow, has been felt by every individual on this planet from the times when Jesus walked the earth, to the 1970s when you were created, to forty years later as I stand here. He also strives to show the universality of death. While there may be different views and ideas on what happens after death, everyone here on this earth is mortal and will one day endure the death of a loved one. This is what makes you such a universal sculpture: one that will carry the same message for as long as you stand.
Pieta, I feel a deep emotional connection when I look at you. You carry such a touching story and universal message that anyone can relate to. I relate most to the younger girl, because I have been in her situation. I will now go beyond just relating to the sorrow this girl expresses and will literally put myself in her place.
With sympathy,
Amberley Proctor
