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.

Symptoms of breast cancer

Symptoms of breast cancer in women may include:

  • a lump or swelling in your breast, chest or armpit
  • a change in the skin of your breast, such as dimpling or redness
  • a change in size or shape of 1 or both breasts
  • nipple discharge that may contain blood
  • a change in the shape or appearance of your nipple, such as turning inwards or a rash on it
  • pain in your breast or armpit that does not go away

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.”

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE RENAISSANCE MASTER MICHELANGELO?

Michelangelo Buonarroti, who lived from 1475 to 1564, was the first artist to be recognized as a genius by contemporaries, according to the National Gallery in London.

He was a painter, on panel and fresco, but also a sculptor, architect and writer of sonnets.

He was the only artist who was said to have surpassed antiquity during his lifetime.

Born in Caprese in the 1470s, he trained first as a painter under Ghirlandaio, and then as a sculptor under the patronage of Lorenzo de’ Medici.

In 1496, already known as a sculptor, he went to Rome, where he carved the ‘Pietà’ for St. Peter’s.

Back in Florence in 1501, he began work on many sculptural and painterly projects, most of which remained unfinished.

In 1505 he was called to Rome to begin work on a sculpted tomb for Pope Julius II, a project that haunted him until 1545.

From 1508 to 1512 he painted the vault of the Sistine Chapel with scenes from the Old Testament, from creation to the story of Noah.

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, with its countless figures in complex, sinuous poses and its exuberant use of color, is immediately celebrated and is the main source of the Mannerist style.

Although he always considered himself a Florentine, Michelangelo lived most of his life in Rome, where he died at the age of 88.

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