Jeremiah is the most touching of all the prophets on the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. Especially when compared to the purposefulness of Ezekiel and the focus of Joel, he reveals weakness, weariness and despair — his posture betrays inner suffering. This is a powerful psychological portrait, that epitomizes the anguish and emotional pain of witnessing the [...]
The intense focus with which Michelangelo depicts the biblical prophets, including Ezekiel and Jeremiah, helps to distance them — on a visual as well as on a notional level — from hedonistic physicality of the sibyls. In a way, the discrepancy between Jewish prophets (clarity of motion, simplicity and singularity of focus) and Greek ones [...]
No more sluggish grace: Ezekiel exhibits a poignancy of movement that proclaims a strong spiritual direction. His posture differs significantly from that of the sibyls, as he sits firmly on his throne, with both feet fixed on the ground. The prophet’s feet are shown without the embellishments we witness in his female counterparts; sturdy limps [...]
Like her Delphic companion, the Libyan Sibyl also turns away from the book she holds. Unlike her, however, she appears in a more intricate, even unstable posture, poised in an almost dance-like motion — apparently caught in the process of placing the tome on the table, or removing it from there. Indeed, it’s difficult to [...]
Michelangelo’s foreshortening of the arms is uncompromising, and consequently the illusion of space is overwhelming in its realism. He uses both architecture and human form to forge a three dimensional presence: the stony perspectives provide the rigor, while the soft, fluent motions fill up, and enliven the angular contours. The artist creates a complex interplay [...]
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