DIE ARBEIT DES ÜBERSETZENS: RILKE UND MICHELANGELO („SE ’L MIE ROZZO MARTELLO‘‘)

This essay examines Rainer Maria Rilke's reception of the sculptor and poet Michelangelo in the context of interest in the Renaissance around 1900, focusing first on the Stundenbuch, the Florenzer Tagebuch and the story ʻVon einem, der die Steine belauschtʼ (from the prose collection: Geschichten vom lieben Gott). Drawing on Friedrich Nietzsche and his concept of Artistenmetaphysik, Rilke portrays Michelangelo as a ‘superman’ (ʻÜbermenschenʼ) and a desperate seeker for God. Rilke's translation of ʻSe ʼl mie rozzo martelloʼ then shows how he uses Michelangelo's poetic self-reflection to express a poetics of transformation (‘Verwandlung’) that focuses on the concept of ‘work’. Thus, Michelangelo becomes a figure of identification and reflection for Rilke in two respects: as a poet, he refers back to Rilke himself, as a sculptor to Auguste Rodin, who in his time was often perceived as a new Michelangelo.