The Awakening Slave by Michelangelo

Reproduction of one of the famous Slaves, or Prigioni, by Michelangelo Buonarroti.
Product in patinated resin, with marble resin, made in Tuscany and finished by hand.
The statue is to be found inside the Galleria dell’Accademia.

Part of the Slaves series, Michelangelo’s famous unfinished works, the Awakening Slave dates from the 1620s. The great tension of the bodies typical of all the subjects in the series, who appear to struggle to free themselves from the stone, here emerges even more clearly. The male figure seems to emerge from the block of marble, as if exerting a great deal of strength. Like the other Slaves – Bound Slave, Bearded Slave and Young Slave – it was intended to serve as decoration for the monumental tomb of Pope Julius II. According to some sources, these subjects represented the provinces subjected by the Pope, or the Arts, cast into slavery by the death of a great patron.