Researchers at the University of Paris-Saclay have identified signs of breast cancer in a woman who appears in Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel, ‘The Deluge’.
This includes a deformed nipple and a slight lump in the breast, which is “consistent with a lump.”
Researchers believe the depiction of breast cancer may have been a message about the inevitability of death.
“Michelangelo’s depiction in ‘The Deluge’ suggests features of breast cancer,” the researchers wrote in their study.
“The evidence of pathology is fully corroborated by the symbolism and theological meaning underlying this depiction of life and death.”
The Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina in Italian) is known for the impressive frescoes that decorate its ceiling, which were painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512.
Despite his worldwide fame, scientists continue to discover 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 who appears in the fresco “The Flood”
Every year, around five million people come to Rome to visit the Sistine Chapel. The chapel (Cappella Sistina in Italian) is known for the impressive frescoes that decorate its ceiling, which were painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512.
Michelangelo began painting figures in the Sistine Chapel in 1508, after Pope Julius II ordered him to do so.
The key theme is the Genesis story in the Old Testament, with ‘The Flood’ showing a group of people fleeing rising water.
A young woman included on the left side of The Flood is almost naked, wearing only a blue headscarf and a blue cape.
In their new study, researchers noted that her left breast appears to have several signs of breast cancer, including a deformed nipple and a slight lump.
“The contrast with the right breast is evident,” wrote researchers led by Andreas Nerlich in their study published in The Chest.
‘Although it is slightly elevated by her right arm, there is a significantly retracted and deformed nipple.
‘The areolar/periareolar skin is retracted, the medial part of the areola appears eroded, the skin cranial to the nipple is deeply indented and retracted like a scar.
‘No overt ulcer is represented. The upper medial quadrant shows a slight bulge consistent with a lump.
In their new study, researchers noted that her left breast appears to have several signs of breast cancer, including a deformed nipple and a slight lump.
The researchers acknowledge that some might argue that the woman depicted is quite young for a breast cancer diagnosis, given that today, 85 percent of patients with the disease are over 50 years old.
“However, applying modern data to the Renaissance is not entirely accurate, since the average life expectancy then was about 35 years, which could have influenced the presentation and characteristics of cancer at that time,” they add.
The team notes that Michelangelo began helping with autopsies when he was 17, so he would likely have seen breast cancer cases 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, and the woman represents lust.
‘There are some types of individuals who “represent” the seven deadly sins: gluttony and sloth (the man with the barrel), anger (the people fighting on the boat), greed (the woman who carries the goods of the home).
‘All these details indicate the reasons for his punishment.
“Perhaps BC (breast cancer) can represent a personal punishment for lust.”
Alternatively, according to the researchers, the representation of breast cancer could be related 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 disfigurement or illness was an expression of the spiritual abyss,” the team added.
‘This metaphor will be taken into account when the woman raises her chest so that it can be clearly observed by the viewer.
“Michelangelo’s individuals are painfully aware of their fate rather than petrified by the danger that looms over them.”
