Article August 10, 1981 Issue

Captives? No!

VIRGINIA J. ROSE

In Florence, Italy, there is a gallery containing four human figures carved by Michelangelo. This particular display is unique because the figures appear unfinished, still largely trapped in the blocks of marble. They are called his "Captives" and seem to be struggling to free themselves from their rough-hewn stone prisons.

It is reported that Michelangelo did not work from drawn plans but went directly to a block of marble and began carving out the image he saw in his mind's eye. Although unfinished, these powerful, emerging figures give us insight into the ideal forms he perceived and planned to depict.

We can find similarities with our own experience. To God, the one and only creator, all His children are perfect, complete, and whole. But mortal man sees himself as humanly circumscribed, bound by limiting beliefs of life in matter. Do we see ourselves as captives, fettered by inadequate education, racial discrimination, poor seeing or hearing, incurable disease, or financial limitation?

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Keeping our salt salty