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The Risen Christ by Michelangelo in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva in Rome is one of the artist's least admired works. While modern observers frequently have found fault with the statue, it satisfied its patrons enormously and was widely admired by contemporaries. Not least, the sculpture has suffered from the manner in which it is presently displayed and from biased photographic reproduction that emphasizes unfavorable and inappropriate views of Christ. In this paper, I examine the Risen Christ afresh by restoring it to its original context and discussing its unusual and moving iconography. Thus, it is possible to comprehend the effect of the Christ as a devotional object, to appreciate its success as a work of art, and to account for some of the modern distaste.

This article relates the history of a little known Michelangelo project for a reliquary tabernacle in the church of San Silvestro in Capite, Rome. A primary object of the essay is to explain the social dynamics contained in this history and to reveal the interplay of personal, political, and professional relations that are involved even in a minor undertaking by a major artist. Particularly important is the cast of characters involved and the blurring of the boundaries of patronage, favor, and friendship. Ultimately the project is interesting for the view it provides of Michelangelo in a dense web of social relations at an unusually busy moment in the artist's career.