Experts suggest Michelangelo depicted breast cancer in the Sistine Chapel fresco

Led by forensic pathologist Andreas G. Nerlich of Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, a team of international experts propose that Michelangelo’s fresco “The Flood” in the Sistine Chapel portrays a young woman exhibiting signs consistent with breast cancer.

Breast imagery can hold symbolic meaning in artwork, often representing motherhood or highlighting femininity. Art occasionally depicts pathological conditions, sparking debate about the intent and significance of these portrayals. Is a pathological feature captured in a painting a witnessed event documenting a physical observation, or is it symbolic of something else?

In a study, “Did Michelangelo paint a young adult woman with breast cancer in ‘The Flood’ (Sistine Chapel, Rome)?,” published in The Breast, experts from Germany, Italy, France, Austria, and the UK covering fields such as art history, medicine, genetics, and pathology, focused on a specific female figure on the right side of “The Flood,” using the guidelines for iconodiagnosis.

“The Flood” (also called “The Deluge”) is the first scene Michelangelo painted on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1508. The woman is depicted nearly naked, wearing only a blue headscarf (indicating her married status) and a blue cloak. Behind her is a young child who appears to be weeping.

Iconodiagnosis is a process of medical analysis that looks for clinical signs of medical disorders and diseases in artwork. It is often used to provide information on pathologies in different paleo-historical periods. The process requires collaboration among experts in biomedicine, medical history, and art history before reaching any conclusions.

From the analysis, her left breast appears normal, showing age or breastfeeding-associated ptosis with a prominent nipple and smooth contours.

Her right breast exhibits significant abnormalities, with a retracted and deformed nipple, retracted areolar skin with erosion in the medial area, and a deep indentation resembling a scar above the nipple. Subtle bulges in the upper medial quadrant and towards the axilla suggest the presence of lumps, possibly indicating enlarged lymph nodes.

Michelangelo’s familiarity with human anatomy may have enabled him to depict specific pathological features accurately. The study points to Michelangelo’s time assisting in autopsies beginning at age 17, where he would have observed pathology potentially including breast cancer. Finding these specific pathological abnormalities in the woman’s right breast might then suggest the intentional portrayal of a disease.

The team followed the guidelines for iconodiagnosis to conduct a thorough analysis, including diagnosis of exclusion and evaluation of any restoration artifacts in the fresco. They considered tuberculous mastitis and puerperal mastitis, conditions prevalent during the Renaissance, but these were ruled out. Chronic conditions like plasma cell mastitis, typically seen in older women, were also discounted due to her apparent youth.

Comparisons with other works by Michelangelo reveal that he was, of course, quite capable of depicting the healthy female breast. In female figures from “The Last Judgment” and sculptures like “Dawn” and “Night” in the Medici Chapel, breasts are portrayed with symmetry free from signs of pathology, reinforcing the idea that the abnormalities in “The Flood” were deliberate.

The research analysis concluded that the features observed align with the required evidence for an iconodiagnosis consistent with breast carcinoma.

The theological context of “The Flood” illustrates a divine punishment being handed down to all of humanity. As pointed out in the study, many of the characters are performing sinful acts even as the flood waters rise.

Not mentioned is how the woman’s condition is an odd contrast to this context. A flood of divine wrath or not, her suffering would be happening anyway. Her weeping child’s motive also seems less about the flood that is drowning the world, but out of concern for mom.

Intriguingly, a nearby horse looking over them is the only animal depicted, the rest presumably having made it aboard Noah’s Ark in the distance.

There is a well-established story of Michelangelo’s mother, Francesca Del Sera, falling from a horse while pregnant with him. Both survived unharmed in what was regarded in the family as a miracle. It happened on the same day as the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, which is reportedly the reason the child would be named Michelangelo.

Also intriguing, the young child behind the woman appears to be around five or six years old, the same age as Michelangelo when his mother died at the age of 30 after a prolonged illness.

If it is Francesca depicted, it may be the reason for the detailed representation of the pathology that perhaps took her life. It could also explain why the child seems to be holding something that looks very much like a scalpel.

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