Michelangelo, The Awakening Slave, 1525-30

The tomb of Pope Julius II, commissioned in 1505, was originally intended to be a grand, three-level, freestanding structure, adorned with more than thirty marble statues. However, due to difficulties with funding, Michelangelo's own difficulties, the interruption caused by the painting of the Sistine Chapel, and the death of the Pope a few years after the commission, the construction was gradually downsized into a much more modest work. The six statues that Michelangelo managed to complete did not fit into the final design.

Here, one of those six, The Awakening Slave, writhes its way out of the marble block encasing it as though it is forming itself from the rock before the viewer's eyes. The arched curve of his back and splayed limbs emerge and recede from the marble, their joining marked by a sharp and poignant contrast of textures between the rudely chiseled rock and smooth skin. Three of the five other Slaves follow this theme, displaying a thoroughly modern sensibility far ahead of Michelangelo's time. This work is the least defined of the six, and still retains much of the original shape of the marble. The rough, unfinished look, however, did not fit with the elegant, slimmed-down tomb after numerous budget cuts took their toll, and all six statues were left out of the final design. Two, Dying Slave and Rebellious Slave, now reside in the Louvre, and the others are held in the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence.

The Awakening Slave may be interpreted in a number of different ways. Is the bearded man entombed within the rock struggling to free himself from his constraints in order to achieve a physical or spiritual enlightenment? Is the conflict and anguish on the man's face Michelangelo's own, a marble scream at the monumental commission he was unable to finish?