Leah (sculpture)

Sculpture by Michelangelo

Leah

Artist| Michelangelo
Year| c. 1542
Medium| Marble
Dimensions| 209 cm (82 in)
Location| San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome
Preceded by| Rachel (sculpture)
Followed by| Apollo

Leah is a sculpture by Michelangelo of the Old Testament figure Leah. Like the artist's Rachel, it was part of the final, 1542–1545 design for the tomb of Pope Julius II in San Pietro in Vincoli, on which it still remains.

## History

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With Michelangelo's Rachel, the statue of Leah completed the decoration of the last version of the funeral monument of Pope Julius II in 1542–1545, a troubled work to which the artist dedicated almost 40 years.

Intended for the right niche, next to the older and successful Moses statue, the work is documented in a plea to Pope Paul III of July 20, 1542, which reported that the works were progressing well. A month after, Michelangelo contracted Raffaello da Montelupo to bring the five remaining statues of the tomb to completion, including Leah and Rachel. He reserved for these last two, however, a new execution by his own hand. It seems that the cleaning and finishing was left to his assistant.

After the completion of the monument, Michelangelo was much criticized for the final result, so that his autograph on the two niche statues was denied. That hypothesis was taken up for a long time in the 19th century, until documents were found to authenticate his authorship.

## Description and style

[edit]

Leah, the Biblical heroine, is represented as a Roman matron, in classical dress and holding a mirror (which would recall the virtue of Prudence) or a diadem, through which runs her long braid of hair. According to Giorgio Vasari and Ascanio Condivi, Leah is an allegory for an "active life," based on a passage from Dante or Diputatione Camaldulenses by Cristoforo Landino.

In that sense, the two feminine figures might represent two ways of being, but the two ways of salvation are not necessarily in conflict with each other. The contemplative life represented by Rachel prays for its salvation through Faith, while the active life represented by Leah finds its salvation in work.

The communal interpretation of the artwork is that it is a kind of mediation between Reform and Catholicism owing to its association with Vittoria Colonna and her followers.

## See also

[edit]

* List of works by Michelangelo

## Bibliography

[edit]

* (in Italian) Umberto Baldini, Michelangelo scultore, Rizzoli, Milano 1973.
* (in Italian) Marta Alvarez Gonzáles, Michelangelo, Mondadori Arte, Milano 2007. ISBN 978-88-370-6434-1

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Leah by Michelangelo Buonarroti at Wikimedia Commons

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Michelangelo

* List of works
* ✻ attributed
* †lost

Sculptures

| Florence, c. 1488–1492|

* Head of a Faun†
* Madonna of the Stairs
* Battle of the Centaurs
* Crucifix

|

Bologna, 1494–1495|

* Additions to the Arca di San Domenico
* Saint Petronius
* Saint Proculus
* Angel

Rome, 1496–1500|

* Sleeping Cupid†
* Bacchus
* Standing Cupid†
* Pietà

Florence, 1501–1505|

* David
* Madonna of Bruges
* Additions to the Piccolomini Altarpiece
* Saints Peter, Paul, Pius and Gregory
* Pitti Tondo
* Taddei Tondo
* Saint Matthew
* Rothschild Bronzes

Tomb of Julius II, 1505–1545|

* Moses
* Rebellious Slave
* Dying Slave
* Young Slave
* Bearded Slave
* Atlas Slave
* Awakening Slave
* The Genius of Victory
* Rachel
* Leah

Florence, 1516–1534|

* Christ Carrying the Cross
* Medici Chapel
* Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours
* Night
* Day
* Dusk
* Dawn
* Medici Madonna
* Apollo
* Crouching Boy

Rome, 1534–1564|

* Brutus
* Florentine Pietà
* Palestrina Pietà ✻
* Rondanini Pietà

Paintings

| Panel paintings|

* The Torment of Saint Anthony
* Manchester Madonna
* The Entombment
* Doni Tondo
* Leda and the Swan†

|

Salone dei Cinquecento|

* Battle of Cascina†

Sistine Chapel
(ceiling gallery)|

* Ceiling
* Separation of Light from Darkness
* The Creation of the Sun, Moon, and Plants
* The Creation of Adam
* Prophet Daniel
* Prophet Isaiah
* Prophet Jeremiah
* Prophet Joel
* Prophet Jonah
* The Last Judgment

Pauline Chapel|

* The Crucifixion of Saint Peter
* The Conversion of Saul

Architecture

| Florence|

* New Sacristy and Laurentian Library in the Basilica of San Lorenzo

|

Rome|

* Capitoline Museums
* Piazza del Campidoglio
* Palazzo Farnese
* St. Peter's Basilica
* Tor San Michele ✻
* San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
* Porta Pia
* Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri

Works on paper, milieu, etc.

| Works on paper|

* Study of a Kneeling Nude Girl for The Entombment
* Male Back with a Flag
* Studies for the Libyan Sibyl
* The Punishment of Tityus
* The Fall of Phaeton
* Pietà for Vittoria Colonna
* Epifania

|

Milieu|

* Cecchino dei Bracci
* Tommaso dei Cavalieri
* Vittoria Colonna
* Ascanio Condivi
* Gherardo Perini
* Sebastiano del Piombo
* Febo di Poggio
* Luigi del Riccio

Related|

* Art patronage of Julius II
* Casa Buonarroti
* Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects
* Michelangelo and the Medici
* Replicas of David
* Replicas of the Pietà
* Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes
* The Titan: Story of Michelangelo (1950 documentary)
* The Agony and the Ecstasy (1961 novel, 1965 film)
* A Season of Giants (1990 TV film)
* Pietà vandalism
* Michelangelo (crater)
* Michelangelo quadrangle

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