Michelangelo’s only signed sculpture is the Pietà.
Michelangelo created the Vatican Pietà between 1498 and 1499, when he was in his early twenties. The marble group shows the Virgin Mary holding the body of Christ after the Crucifixion. It was commissioned by the French cardinal Jean de Billères for a funeral chapel in Old St. Peter’s Basilica.
Michelangelo carved his name across the sash running diagonally over Mary’s chest. The signature is especially notable because he did not normally sign his completed works. According to a later account by Giorgio Vasari, Michelangelo regretted signing the sculpture and resolved never to sign another work.
The Pietà is often confused with Michelangelo’s other famous sculptures, such as David and Moses, neither of which bears his signature. It is also important to distinguish the Vatican Pietà from his later, unfinished works on the same theme, including the Florentine Pietà and the Rondanini Pietà. The famous signed work is the first, Vatican version.