Risen Christ

In 1514 Michelangelo received the commission from Metello Vari to make the statue of the Risen Christ for the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Rome. While making the first version a black vein had been revealed in the marble on the face of Christ, clearly visible even after polishing. Consequently Michelangelo decided to abandon the carving, and start a new one from a new block of marble. Finally he started a new statue of Christ in 1519 and the work was finished at the end of 1521. The copy was purchased by the Museum in 1906, and the plaster cast was exhibited in the Museum’s Michelangelo Room, just beside the copy of Michelangelo’s Pietà. This plaster cast is installed in Kecskemét at the House of Science and Technology since 1976, together with other fourteen plaster casts after Michelangelo’s statues.