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

Asa - Jehoshaphat - Joram (detail)

1511-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

On the left, an emaciated old man, traditionally considered to be Jehoshaphat, is seen in full profile. He is sitting in an unusual pose - one leg is extended and the other bent, with the foot resting on the seat - and is engrossed in writing with a reed pen on a parchment placed on his raised knee. He is wearing a loose yellow mantle with bright red shadows that are greenish in the halftones, white trousers tied round the ankles (a style often associated with Orientals in painting) and rose shoes. A gray cap covers his bony head; with its hooked nose and large ears, it is thrust forward on a long neck, from which a prominent Adam's apple protrudes.




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