To Michelangelo Buonarroti

To Michelangelo Buonarroti

The following verses were inspired by the image of a rising star in the photographic universe: Tiziana Nardini. A finalist at the 2024 Michelangelo Buonarroti International Prize with the black and white work La semplicità, she was awarded the prestigious Special Prize of the Municipality of Stazzema (Lu) for the powerful artistic creation The Gaze Between Master and Work.
The title of this poem came spontaneously. I could have kept the title of the awarded work, but Poeticando always seeks a personal touch of originality, both in verse and prose: it takes inspiration from many, but copies no one.

To Michelangelo Buonarroti

Man and his creation,
artistic, for instance.
One a full vessel,
the other empty.
The first, imbued with soul,
the second, without.
Yet, though hollow,
it seems to have a soul—
but it is inanimate,
a terracotta vessel
whose expression speaks,
strikes you, and you,
a human being,
as if reflected in a mirror,
admire yourself, take pride,
and somehow recognize yourself.
You have one thing in common:
the soul you conveyed
through your subtle energies
in touching, shaping
that solid material,
until it spoke
as if it were you—
you, a man,
and the counterpart, a woman.
Look within yourself and you’ll find
an unknown aspect,
steady and strong in your heart,
like the column of a temple.

Florence, July 3, 2025 – 10:18 p.m.

Original photo: Tiziana Nardini
SPECIAL PRIZE – MUNICIPALITY OF STAZZEMA 2024
• Tiziana Nardini – Massa (MS) with
The Gaze Between Master and Work

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