From the very first look at this sculpture it is clear to see that Ugolino is having a bad day. The sculpture depicts a story from Dante’s “The Inferno”. Ugolino is condemned to starvation and has to watch as his innocent children and grandchildren die. He looks away because he cannot bear to watch. We see from his facial expression that he is full of torment and suffering. It looks like his sons are begging and pleading with him. We also see that he is biting his fingers out of anguish. The story goes that his sons thought he was eating himself because he was starving, and so they beg their father to eat them instead, and he does.

This sculpture is a great interweaving of figures. The oldest sons body is fully wrapped around his father. From their body language alone we can see the extreme emotional concern between father and son.  Looking towards the back of the sculpture, we see every muscle and vertebrae in Ugolino’s hunched back, showing knots and tension. This sculpture is different from many others of this time period because, though naturalism is portrayed, it does not express idealized bodies. Rather real and dramatic bodies as well as the real horror of the subject.