Art historians have debated the composition of the Florentine Pieta for many years. They argue about which scenes are presented in this sculpture along with the true identity of the hooded figure. In 1968 a man by the name of Leo Steinberg proposed the idea of what is known as the “slung leg hypothesis,” which links Michelangelo’s decision to destroy this sculpture. In the sculpture, Christ’s left leg is missing. Steinberg argues that the position of Christ’s leg between the Madonna’s knees in the original design had strong erotic connotations that Michelangelo became disgusted and destroyed it. This possibly expressed the idiom of the union of Christ and Mother. Frederick Hartt counters that in this Pieta there is a dead man whose leg
