By Kind Permission of Lancaster University Library
By Kind Permission of Lancaster University Library
With this punctuation the reference is presumably to the unfinished marble sculpture of Dusk (the twilight part of the day) made between 1524 and 1531 as a part of Michelangelo 's work on the chapel for the Medici tombs in the church of San Lorenzo, Florence. It is one of four, Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk. It is equally possible that Ruskin could also be referring to two pieces, both Dusk and the similarly unfinished Day. The reading and punctuation 'Twilight, or the Day' adopted by Cook and Wedderburn suggest that they interpret the words to be referring to both.
Michelangelo Buonarroti 1475-1564
Dusk 1524-31
Marble statue, 195cm (length)
Further Comments: This sculpture was made for the tomb of Lorenzo de'Medici. The 'Dusk' is the figure on the left.
Collection: Medici Chapel, Florence