MICHELANGELO Buonarroti
(b. 1475, Caprese, d. 1564, Roma)

Ancestors of Christ: figures

1510
Fresco, 245 x 340 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

The figures are in the triangular spandrel in the fourth bay between the Cumaean Sibyl and Isaiah. The spandrel is situated over the Hezekiah-Manasseh-Amon lunette.

All of the space in the foreground is occupied by the figure in profile of the woman seated on the ground. Behind her, there is the figure of a child and the head of an old man emerging from the shadows. A bright light, however, gives prominence to the woman's green mantle with iridescent yellow shadows, her white shirt, and the violet scarf falling from her shoulder along her right arm, heightening the contrast with the figures behind.

In accordance with the lunette below, the figures represent Hezekiah as a child with his mother and his father Ahaz.