Michelangelo secretly painted a common women’s health condition into his Sistine Chapel masterpiece. So, can you spot it?
About five million people travel to Rome every year to visit the Sistine Chapel.
The chapel – Cappella Sistina in Italian – is known for the beautiful frescoes that adorn the ceiling, which were painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512.
Despite their worldwide fame, scientists are still discovering new details in his works.
In a new study, researchers from the University of Paris-Saclay have identified signs of breast cancer in a woman seen in the fresco ‘The Flood’.
These include a deformed nipple and a slight bulge in her breast, which is “consistent with a lump.”
The researchers believe that the representation of breast cancer may have been a message about the inevitability of death.
“Michelangelo’s image in ‘The Flood’ suggests characteristics of breast cancer,” the researchers wrote in their study.
‘The evidence of the pathology is fully corroborated by the symbolism and theological meaning underlying this representation of life and death.’
In a new study, researchers from the University of Paris-Saclay have identified signs of breast cancer in a woman seen in the fresco ‘The Flood’.
About five million people travel to Rome every year to visit the Sistine Chapel. The chapel – Cappella Sistina in Italian – is known for the beautiful frescoes that adorn the ceiling, which were painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512
Michelangelo began painting figures in the Sistine Chapel in 1508, after being commissioned by Pope Julius II.
The central theme is the story of Genesis in the Old Testament, where ‘The Flood’ shows a group of people fleeing from rising waters.
A young woman on the left of The Flood is nearly naked, wearing only a blue headscarf and a blue cloak.
In their new study, the researchers noticed that her left breast appeared to have several signs of breast cancer, including a deformed nipple and a slight bulge.
“The contrast with the right breast is clear,” the researchers led by Andreas Nerlich wrote in their study, published in The chest.
‘Although slightly elevated through her right arm, there is a significantly retracted and deformed nipple.
‘The areola/periareolar skin is retracted, the medial part of the areola appears eroded, the skin cranial to the nipple is deeply indented and resembles a scar.
‘There is no overt ulcer depicted. The upper medial quadrant shows a slight bulge resembling a lump.’
In their new study, the researchers noticed that her left breast appeared to have several signs of breast cancer, including a deformed nipple and a slight bulge.
The researchers acknowledge that some might argue that the woman pictured is quite young to be diagnosed with breast cancer, as today 85 percent of patients with the disease are over the age of 50.
“Applying modern data to the Renaissance period is not entirely accurate, however, as the average life expectancy then was approximately 35 years, which could have influenced the presentation and characteristics of cancer at that time,” she added.
The team notes that Michelangelo began assisting with autopsies when he was 17 years old, so he had likely seen cases of breast cancer before.
As to why he decided to include it in the fresco, researchers have several theories.
One theory suggests that the people fleeing the flood may represent the seven deadly sins, with the woman representing Lust.
‘There are a few types of individuals who ‘represent’ the seven deadly sins: gluttony and sloth (the man with the barrel), anger (the people fighting in the boat), greed (the woman carrying her household belongings).
‘All these details indicate the reasons for their punishment.
“Maybe B.C [breast cancer] can mean a personal punishment for lust.”
Alternatively, the researchers say the representation of breast cancer can be linked to the concept of death.
“As an expression of Neoplatonism, which influenced Michelangelo, the pursuit of beauty and harmony could lead to immortality, while physical deformity or disease was an expression of a spiritual abyss,” the team added.
‘This metaphor will be taken into consideration when the woman lifts her breast so that it can be clearly perceived by the viewer.
“Michelangelo’s individuals are painfully aware of their fate rather than petrified by the danger hanging over them.”