Reading the Bible with the Dead

An Interpretation of Rachel and Leah by Michelangelo

Ashley Johnson

Rachel and Leah By: Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
For my interpretation of Rachel and Leah, I chose Rachel and Leah by: Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. This piece is a sculpture that is in the tomb of Julius II. The piece consists of two sculptures of Rachel and Leah. Rachel is shown on the left and Leah is shown on the right. The piece was completed in 1545 during the Italian Renaissance. The Italian Renaissance was a time of great cultural change and achievement that started in Italy in the 14th century and went until the 16th century. Renaissance is French for rebirth. Michelangelo was a very prominent artist during this time.

One thing that stuck out to me about this sculpture is how Rachel and Leah are dressed. Their clothing is very different and represent their character well. I connected the way they’re dressed to the historical context of the Italian Renaissance. Rachel is dressed more conservatively with a head covering and draping fabrics all over resembling a nun’s habit. On the other hand, Leah has clothes that while they are still modest, they show off her curves. This seems like an attempt to make her seem more seductive as she is depicted in the bible story. Leah also has on jewelry-both a headpiece and a necklace. This connects to the historical context because before marriage, a man would typically give his wife a betrothal jewelry piece. Because Leah was the first to marry Jacob, I believe Michelangelo chose to include her with the elaborate necklace and headpiece.

During the Italian Renaissance, it was very important for women to birth children in order to continue their bloodline. The women also had a lot of pressure on them to bear healthy male children. My belief is that because Leah was the sister to bear multiple children, and have them before Rachel, she is sort of praised in this piece of art. I made this connection to the historical context by seeing how women were expected to bear many children during the Italian Renaissance. My best guess is when they did bear many children, they were looked at in a positive light.

 During the Italian Renaissance, women who did not marry typically lived in the houses of their male relatives since they were not permitted to live alone. If they did not live with a male relative, they often joined convents. I found this to be interesting because of the fact that Rachel is dressed in something that resembles a nun. Although she is at one point married to Jacob, at first only Rachel was since she was the older sister. It was interesting to me that it seemed that Michelangelo hinted at Rachel being in a convent through her clothing.

Another connection to the historical context during the Italian Renaissance is the fact that like many other time periods, women were seen as weaker than men-both mentally and physically. Although it is not shown in the Image of the sculpture. Rachel and Leah in the tomb where their sculptures are are on either side of a much bigger and stronger looking sculpture of Moses. Because of this idea of men and women at the time, Michelangelo chose to depict Rachel and Leah and smaller and more frail looking than Moses in the middle.

Sources:

This page has paths: