Caress what you make

Russian American Cultural Center of New York
Jun 18, 2013 8:40PM

In his Abecedario notes Pierre-Jean Mariette, the eighteenth-century connoisseur and historian, said of Michelangelo's work, "He caresses what he makes" (Il caresse ce qu'il fait).  This observation applies fully to the master's painted, drawn, and sculpted work.  How many masters today caress their canvases, papers, and stones?  Almost none, as in Michelangelo's day, I observe with sadness.

Dmitry Borshch

Russian American Cultural Center of New York