Did Michelangelo paint a young adult woman with breast cancer in "The Flood" (Sistine Chapel, Rome)?

Andreas G Nerlich; Johann C Dewaal; Antonio Perciaccante; Serena Di Cosimo; Laura Cortesi; Judith Wimmer; Simon T Donell; Raffaella Bianucci

doi:10.1016/j.breast.2024.103823

Did Michelangelo paint a young adult woman with breast cancer in "The Flood" (Sistine Chapel, Rome)?

Breast. 2024 Dec:78:103823. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2024.103823. Epub 2024 Oct 19.

Authors

Andreas G Nerlich¹, Johann C Dewaal², Antonio Perciaccante³, Serena Di Cosimo⁴, Laura Cortesi⁵, Judith Wimmer⁶, Simon T Donell⁷, Raffaella Bianucci⁸

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Legal Medicine, Department of Forensic Histology, Paleopathology and Mummy Research, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Breast Center, Dachau, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano Isontina, Department of Medicine, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Gorizia, Italy; Laboratory Anthropology, Archaeology, Biology (LAAB), Paris-Saclay University, Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milano, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Modena Hospital University, Modena, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Department of Art and Heritage Conservation, Diocese Linz, Linz, Austria. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Laboratory Anthropology, Archaeology, Biology (LAAB), Paris-Saclay University, Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

The Flood is the first pictorial scene that Michelangelo Buonarroti painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. On the right side of the fresco a woman with abnormal breast morphology is presented and the nature of her disease is considered using the Guidelines for Iconodiagnosis. A team of experts covering art history, art expertise, medicine, genetics, and pathology undertook the process and concluded that the pathology shown is probably breast cancer, most likely linked to the symbolic significance of an inevitable death as expressed in the Book of Genesis.

Keywords: Bible; Breast disease; Iconodiagnosis; Michelangelo; Sistine Chapel; Symbolism.

Publication types

Historical Article

MeSH terms

Adult
Breast Neoplasms* / pathology
Famous Persons
Female
History, 16th Century
Humans
Medicine in the Arts*
Paint
Paintings* / history
Rome
Young Adult