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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Twenty Two: Black and white travel photography – making less into more > Michelangelo’s “Madonna and Child,” Bruges, Belgium, 2005
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11-JUN-2005

Michelangelo’s “Madonna and Child,” Bruges, Belgium, 2005

Michelangelo's marble statue "Madonna and Child" is the only one of his works to leave Italy during his lifetime. A Flemish merchant imported it and today it is sealed within a thick glass case deep in shadows of Bruges' Church of Our Lady. I used my telephoto lens at 388mm to zoom through that glass and make the figures pop out of the darkness, just as Michelangelo extracted them out the block of marble with his chisel. The figures seem ready to come to life. By underexposing and thereby abstracting this remarkable work of art, I show less of it and say more about it. This black and white conversion helps as well – when the marble color vanishes, they appear to look more like people and less like stone. And that was Michelangelo’s greatest gift – to make stone seem human.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20
1/30s f/2.8 at 64.5mm iso80 full exif

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Phil Douglis30-Nov-2006 20:27
Thanks, Chris -- it would be presumptuous for any photographic artist to try to enhance the work of Michelangelo. He chose to use a monochromatic material -- marble -- to create this work. So I honor his intentions here, by also using a monochromatic medium to interpret it.
Chris Sofopoulos30-Nov-2006 16:36
Amazing in b&w Phil. Exactly, you show less of it and say more about it.
Phil Douglis22-Oct-2005 05:55
Thank you, Galina, for seeing the meaning of bringing the lightness out of the dark here. As you know, it was Michelangelo himself who inspired me to make this image like this. As I say in the caption, he extracted these figures from a block of marble with his chisel, and I try here to extract the highlights from the shadows. Ultimately, the credit here must go to the great artist who created these sublime figures - all I do here with my camera is try to make them seem even more human by abstracting them, partially bringing them into the light from the darkness, and leaving the rest to your imagination.
Galina Stepanova17-Oct-2005 19:32
Wonderful! Appearance from the dark to the light... Very symbolic and moving.
My admiration!
Phil Douglis04-Aug-2005 18:53
Thank you, Paolo, for appreciating the role that light and shadow play in defining and expressing the meaning of this image. It is impossible for a photographer to enhance the work of sculptor such as Michaelangelo. And I did not want to simply describe it, either. I wanted to interpret it, and the only tools at my disposal -- since the subject was encased in glass at a distance -- were my long lens, which allowed me to get close, and my control over exposure, particularly my spot meter, which allowed me to selectivey paint the darkness with light. You are right -- it is the shift of emphasis from Mary to the Child that intensifies Michaelangelo's amazing gift for turning stone into flesh. And it all does come down to the hands, as you say. And all of it comes at us out of the mysterious darkness that surrounds the sculpture.
Paolo Tiso 04-Aug-2005 08:14
This is simply astonishing. Looks like Mary and the Child come out of the darkness. The Child is in the foreground, he is the Saviour, and the light enphasize him. Then, just back, we see Mary, a little behind the scene, a little darker, as to say "it's Him, not me". But then one's sight naturally goes on their hands hold together, guided by light. Human and divine holding hands. I see this underlined by lighting.
The bare darkness of the backgorund adds so much meaning to the picture.
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