You have all probably heard about such a person as Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Michelangelo is one of the most brilliant masters of the Italian Renaissance – sculptor, painter, architect, poet, thinker. Today I would like to tell you the story of the creation of one of his most famous sculptures.
The figures of the Virgin and Jesus were carved from a single piece of marble by a sculptor in 1499. The customer was the French cardinal Jean Billaire de Lagrol, who served as the French ambassador in Rome at the court of Pope Alexander VI. The contract preserves the words of the guarantor – the patron of Michelangelo’s talent, the Roman banker Jacopo Galli: “I, Jacopo Galli, declare that the work will be the most beautiful of all the works on marble that exist today in Rome. It will be of such quality that no master of our time will be able to create better.”
Thanks to a banker’s guarantee, this expensive work was commissioned from an unknown and very young sculptor. The fee for this work was four hundred and fifty gold ducats. Few believed that 24-year-old Michelangelo would cope with this difficult task. But the result was amazing and exceeded all expectations.
In May 1497, the sculptor went to the quarries of Carrara for a block of marble of the purest rock, almost without inclusions or cracks, which he personally selected. The sculpture was intended for the tomb of the cardinal. And according to the agreement, in a year this creation was to be completed. But the master did not commit to the deadline: the creative process turned out to be very labor-intensive and the work lasted for two years. The cardinal, seeing the unfinished work of the sculptor just before his death, was delighted and confirmed that Buonarroti had fulfilled the terms of the contract.
There is a legend that when Michelangelo was walking through a quarry where marble was being sold, he saw a beautiful stone and asked about it.
The owner said:
– If you want this stone, take it for free, because it’s just lying around and taking up space. For twelve years no one even asked about him; I don’t see any potential in this stone.
Michelangelo took the stone, worked on it for almost two years and created perhaps the most beautiful statue that exists. When Michelangelo finished his work, he invited the owner of the shop to his place because he wanted to show him something. The owner couldn’t believe his eyes. He said:
– Where did you get this beautiful marble?
– Don’t you recognize? – said Michelangelo, – This is the same ugly stone that has been waiting in front of your store for twelve years.
You ask: What is the point of this story? It is thateach of us is this stone in which God himself saw the potential. Why do I say this? Because this is what God’s word tells you and me.
“As you come to Him,a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God, precious,you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house,a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it is written in the Scripture: BeholdI lay in Zion a corner stone, chosen, precious; and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.Therefore He is a treasure to you who believe, but to those who do not believe, the stone which the builders rejected, but which has become the head of the corner, is a stone of stumbling, and a stone of offense, whereby they stumble, not obeying the word, wherefore they are abandoned.”(1 Peter 2:4-8)
Christ, like a piece of marble from history, was rejected by people. He was humiliated and despised. The prophet Isaiah speaks about this:
“He was despised and humbled before men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with pain, and we turned our faces away from Him; He was despised, and we thought nothing of Him.” (Isa.53:3)
And God, as the greatest sculptor and architect, took this rejected stone and laid it at the foundation of His church. It was Christ who created this entire world, and only He gives us an understanding of why we were created and what our purpose is in His church.
Can this be understood without Christ? No. Only by coming to Him can we see what we are called to.
There is another interesting fact about another famous work of Michelangelo – the sculpture of David. It is known that at least two of the sculptor’s predecessors, Agostino di Duccio and Antonio Rossellino, worked with a five-meter block of Carrara marble. Both of them considered the material unsuccessful, and the block of marble lay near the quarry for a total of more than forty years.
Michelangelo Buonarotti, having taken on “David” in 1501, declared that he would make his biblical hero from a single piece of stone. He sculpted “David” in three years.
Buanarotti said: I take a stone and cut off everything unnecessary.
You say: But it was Michelangelo. And I will tell you that only God gives gifts and talents. And if He could give this wonderful sculptor the ability to see the potential in a block of marble that other famous sculptors had abandoned. The same God will allow you and me to see the potential hidden within us.
The stone itself cannot recognize the potential that is hidden in it. Only a sculptor can see what is hidden in the gray and ugly block.
How many years have you considered yourself a failure? Perhaps 10 years. Or maybe 12 years? And perhaps 40 years, as in this story. In essence, timing is not important. It is important for you and me to come to Christ and allow Him to create a masterpiece in your life and mine.
“Coming to Him, aliving stone, rejected by men, but chosen by Godand precious, you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up into a spiritual house,a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ…he who believes in Him will not be put to shame.”(1 Peter 2:4-6)
What is important for you and me to believe in today? It is important for us to believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. He is the author of our life, and only He can reveal to us why we were created and what our purpose is in His body. We can write the script of our life ourselves, or we can let the great Director himself write it.
You may not see the potential in yourself. Other people may think that you won’t amount to anything. But the truth is that there is One who created you and me.
Only the Creator of the stone can say what this stone is suitable for and what it is not for. Allow God to create in your life the masterpiece He originally intended.
May your life and mine become sculptures of kindness, love, caring and service.
