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

Nahshon (detail)

1511-12
Fresco
Cappella Sistina, Vatican

The woman is depicted standing, with one foot resting on the stone seat, looking at herself in an oval mirror that she is holding in her hand, her elbow resting on the knee of her raised leg. Her back and head are bent forward, following the curve of the top edge of the lunette. She is wearing a green overdress, tied over the shoulders, and a rose blouse with rose-orange shadows. The complex style of her blond hair, knotted on the top of her head, from where a long ponytail hangs, emphasizes her clean-cut profile and the delicate passages of light and shade on her neck, on which a gold earring stands out. The pose of the woman is probably derived from a relief representing the muse Melpomene on a Roman sarcophagus.




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