Prophets
by MICHELANGELO

On the side walls of the chapel, five prophets alternate with the same number of sibyls, so that each prophet is paired with a sibyl on the opposite wall: the Delphic Sibyl and Joel, Isaiah, and the Erythraean Sibyl, the Cumaean Sibyl and Ezekiel, Daniel and the Persian Sibyl, the Libyan Sibyl, and Jeremiah. This studied parallelism alludes both to the theme of the universality of the message of Redemption and the idea of the perfect concordance of the Revelation in the Judaic world and in the pagan one.

The other two prophets - Zechariah and Jonah - are represented on the major axis of the Sistine Chapel. This arrangement has a particular significance, too, since Zechariah, depicted above the chapel door that the pope solemnly passed through on Palm Sunday - recalling the regal entry of Christ into Jerusalem and beginning the ceremonies of Holy Week - was considered to be the main prophet of the Passion of Christ, while Jonah, placed above the altar, was usually thought to be the precursor of the risen Christ.

View a slide show of the 7 prophets and 5 sibyls.

Preview Picture Data Info
Zechariah
1509
Fresco, 360 x 390 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Zechariah (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Zechariah (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Zechariah (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Joel
1509
Fresco, 355 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Joel (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Joel (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Putti
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Isaiah
1509
Fresco, 365 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Isaiah (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Isaiah (detail)
1509
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Ezekiel
1510
Fresco, 355 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Ezekiel (detail)
1510
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Ezekiel (detail)
1510
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Daniel
1511
Fresco, 395 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Daniel (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Daniel (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Jeremiah
1511
Fresco, 390 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Jeremiah (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Jeremiah (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Jeremiah (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Jonah
1511
Fresco, 400 x 380 cm
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Jonah (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Jonah (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican


Jonah (detail)
1511
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican



Summary of works by Michelangelo
All genres
Sculptures | Paintings | Sistine Chapel | Drawings | Architecture
Sculptures
-1501 | 1502- | David | Julius II's Tomb | Medici Tomb | Pietās
Paintings
Easel paintings | Frescoes in Pauline Chapel
Sistine Chapel
Division of the ceiling | Genesis | Prophets | Sibyls | Ignudi
Spandrels | Lunettes | Triangles | Medallions
Last Judgment
Architecture
until 1530 | after 1530



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