The author's threefold purpose in this detailed investigation is (1) to amplify a basic element in the methodology of psychoanalytic iconography that was applied in his earlier Michelangelo study; (2) to illuminate the representation of certain unresolved conflicts which were fundamental determinants of both the

form and content of images that Michelangelo created in a single decade of his work; and (3) to speculate on the developmental process of the "splitting" of the maternal object representation into the idealized Madonna figure and the abandoning, murderous Medea figure. Twenty-four photographs of the artist's works serve to clarify the discussion.