Michelangelo and Nicodemism: The Florentine Pietà

Abstract

A new interpretation of Michelangelo's Florentine Pietà argues that in the artist's identification with the figure of Nicodemus through the self-portrait he imposed, Michelangelo was representing himself as a Nicodemist. The Nicodemists, active in Italy in the 1540's and early 1550's, showed interest in some of the ideas of the Protestant reformers but sought to act within the existing Catholic order, thus preventing schism in the Church. The hypothesis presented here reinforces the existing evidence of Michelangelo's involvement with the Catholic Evangelist Reform movement in Italy. It also provides an alternative explanation for Michelangelo's attempted destruction of the sculpture in 1555.

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Notes on contributors

Valerie Shrimplin-Evangelidis

Valerie Shrimplin-Evangelidis is a graduate of the University of Bristol, England, and currently pursuing postgraduate research at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Her major interest is the intellectual background of Michelangelo's late works [University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2001, South Africa].