 |
| Francesco Salviati after Michelangelo Figure of Dawn from the Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence ca. 1540 drawing British Museum |
 |
| Federico Zuccaro after Michelangelo Figure of Dawn from the Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence ca. 1590-1600 drawing Royal Collection, Great Britain |
 |
| Bartolomeo Passarotti after Michelangelo Figure of Dawn from the Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence 1550 drawing Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City |
 |
| Pietro Valentini after Michelangelo Figure of Dawn from the Tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florenceca. 1650 drawing Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh |
 |
| Jacopo Tintoretto after Michelangelo Figure of Day from the Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence ca. 1550-55 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
A Poem Called Day
Day is carved in marble, a man reclining,
a naked giant suffering.
Preoccupied Day faces Night, who is a woman,
huge, naked, Herculean, both pillowed
on their uncarved rough marble bed.
They need light to be seen, neither
has anything to do with the sun or moon.
Art is not astronomy,
but the heavens are useful as gardening to poets,
not useful as love or loneliness.
If I write out of arrogance and ignorance
a poem called Day, my chisel and mallet, words
and pen, paper my marble, I must not confuse
sunlight and Day, petals with hours. I could rhyme,
perhaps by reason and chance describe the nature of Day.
I might discover Nature is surprisingly
sometimes moral, unexpected, a principle
over which the lovers Night and Day quarrel.
In my poem, faithful Night and faithful Day quarreled;
rhyme told me they quarreled because Day is gold,
Night hates the thought of celestial money,
rages at the starless differences between cost and price.
Michelangelo did not choose to make a sculpture
Prezzo, or put the finger of God on a coin.
Day and Night saw Danaë's legs spread apart
for Zeus to enter as a shower of gold.
They are not household gods or saints.
Better I write about things nearby,
a chair, a stool, the principle I'm sitting on.
Day is my dictionary. If my Day were animal, he might be
a baby elephant who eats leaves.
My good Day stays close to his mother,
who is murdered for her ivory tusks.
My Day is an endangered specie. I whisper
into elephant ears, peace, my darling little Day.
An owl hoots, your Day has no given name!
True, I refuse names useful to many others:
Sabbath, Sunday, Friday, Saturday.
My Day is not baptized, circumcised, or blessed.
I pick him up and hold Day in my arms.
I put my head in Day's open mouth.
I tongue Day, and Day tongues me.
Yes, although my Day loves Night,
he tongues me in and out of bed.
My Day knows Night carnally,
lets Night know me.
So I love Day today.
And I love Night tonight.
– Stanley Moss (2016)
 |
| Anonymous Italian Artist after Michelangelo Figure of Night from the Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence ca. 1520-30 drawing British Museum |
 |
| attributed to Cesare Dandini after Michelangelo Figure of Night from the Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence before 1658 drawing Minneapolis Institute of Art |
 |
| John Singer Sargent after Michelangelo Figure of Night from the Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence ca. 1872-74 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Jacopo Tintoretto after Michelangelo Head of Giuliano de' Medici from his Tomb Statue Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence ca. 1540-50 drawing Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Naldini after Michelangelo Head of Giuliano de' Medici from his Tomb Statue Basilica di San Lorenzo, Florence before 1591 drawing British Museum |
 |
| Anonymous Italian Artist after Michelangelo Statue of Moses Basilica di San Pietro in Vincoli, Rome ca. 1700-1740 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
 |
| Anonymous Italian Artist after Michelangelo Figure of Dead Christ from the Pietà St Peter's Basilica, Rome 16th century drawing Royal Collection, Great Britain |
 |
| Anonymous Italian Artist after Michelangelo Statue of the Risen Christ Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome 18th-19th century drawing Art Institute of Chicago |
 |
| Jacopo Tintoretto after Michelangelo Two Studies of Samson slaying the Philistines (from a small model by Michelangelo) before 1594 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
 |
| Giovanni Battista Naldini after Michelangelo Samson slaying the Philistines (from a small model by Michelangelo) ca. 1560-80 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Henri Regnault after Michelangelo Two Struggling Figures (from a small model by Michelangelo) ca. 1867 drawing Art Institute of Chicago |