Elizabeth Mozzillo

An Italianist with interests in Dante and the Medieval, Renaissance world. Currently I’m a voice actor for the Cambridge Latin Course (in Latin).

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

South Bushwick Church has been a cornerstone for our community, After the devastating fire, they need our help to rebuild . Please consider giving and sharing this message to support their recovery. Thank you for your kindness. https://t.co/moXHouPJBD

[James Lucas @JamesLucasIT]

Why does Mary look younger than Jesus in Michelangelo's Pietà?

The answer is one of the most beautiful in art history...

Mary is holding the body of her 33 year old son, but she looks 20. Critics noticed it the moment the sculpture was unveiled in 1499. The mother of a man who has just been crucified would have been in her late forties or early fifties. Michelangelo had carved her as a girl.

His own biographer, Ascanio Condivi, was the one who finally asked him why. The answer Michelangelo gave is preserved in Condivi's Life of Michelangelo and has been repeated for centuries: "Do you not know that chaste women stay fresh much more than those who are not chaste? How much more in the case of the Virgin, who had never experienced the least lascivious desire that might change her body?"

Most modern critics treat this answer as a half-serious deflection. Michelangelo was famous for his sharp tongue and refused to explain himself to people he considered beneath his intellect.

The deeper answer is older, and it lies inside one of the greatest poems ever written. In the final canto of Dante's Paradiso, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux begins his prayer to the Virgin with one of the most extraordinary lines in Italian literature:

"Vergine madre, figlia del tuo figlio."
"Virgin mother, daughter of your own son."

Michelangelo, who knew Dante by heart, was carving that line into stone. Mary is younger than Jesus because Jesus is older than the universe... because she gave birth to her own creator.

But there is another reading, simpler than either of those, and it is the one I find myself thinking of today. Every mother who has held her child has held them at every age at once. The infant is still inside the toddler. The toddler is still inside the teenager. The young man on her lap, even dead, is also the boy she nursed and the baby she first carried home.

And maybe that's why Michelangelo did not carve Mary as the years had aged her. He carved her as love had kept her: outside of time, outside of grief, holding her son the way she had always held him...

Happy Mother's Day.

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If you enjoyed this, I write a weekly newsletter read by over 50,000 people who love rediscovering the beauty of the past. You can join us here:

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I write about beauty in all its forms. If you'd like to support my work, a paid subscription is what makes it possible.

[Nula Suchet @nulasuchet]

This must be undone. These birds fly thousands of miles to nest in our counties. It’s a privilege to have them- heartbreakingly there numbers are declining - please, please campaign to network rail to reverse

[Barenreiter @Baerenreiter]

Today in 1829 Mendelssohn performed Bach’s St Matthew Passion heard again for the first time in 100 years.

This performance marked the rediscovery of Bach as a composer and a revival of his works began.

Have a read about our new revised edition here https://t.co/bUyAaN7WQg

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

@PSEGLI Stay safe!

[Noel Y. Calingasan • NYC @nyclovesnyc]

Happy Fall! Here are some videos and photos of fall foliage during past autumn seasons in Washington Heights, Central Park, East Village, West Village, Little Island and Gramercy Park in New York City.

[ifaw United Kingdom @IFAWUK]

Each year, an estimated 20 million seahorses die after getting trapped in fishing nets. IFAW is proud to support the Seamaster Seahorse Rescue Centre, Italy’s first dedicated seahorse hospital. We need help now to fund its expansion and save more than 2000 seahorses. Join us?

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

Im helping a sweet animal get better. Please help too! https://t.co/twPK45oIHl

[James Lucas @JamesLucasIT]

This isn’t AI.

Tonight, Michelangelo’s Pietà was recreated with drones above St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

@houghhough How wonderful!

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

Please help us to Save Cambridge's traditional locals market, and its traders - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/tLnhp3ttKr via @UKChange

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

https://t.co/tIVVSVfZMM

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

Save the Newark School of Musical Instrument Crafts! - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/nbTu5DYQyJ via @UKChange

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

@rewindtvuk Thank you Rewind TV for showing this wonderful series.

[James Lucas @JamesLucasIT]

The enchanting beauty of Napoli, Italy

[Protect the Wild @ProtectTheWild_]

Support our petition for a real ban on all hunting with dogs.

📢 Link in the comments! 👇

[Bloomsbury Academic @BloomsburyAcad]

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of Object Lessons, a series of small, beautiful books that explore the hidden lives of ordinary things.

In today’s Academic blog post 10 authors reflect on 10 years of Object Lessons https://t.co/4eAC9fqDYo

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

Pub by Philip Howell: When the war was brewing in British pubs https://t.co/06GfBEbkft via @MailOnline

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

Petition to Landmark Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Grotto and Rectory in Chicago - Sign the Petition! https://t.co/LFsB1ZoxLh via @UKChange

[Elizabeth Mozzillo @ElizaMozzillo]

What a pleasure to watch Jassy again.

[Talking Pictures TV @TalkingPicsTV]

A girl who receives visions is believed to be a witch... JASSY (1947) 6pm #TPTVsubtitles

Stars #MargaretLockwood #PatriciaRoc #DennisPrice