Michelangelo secretly depicted a common health condition in a painting of a woman in the Sistine Chapel, study reveals READ MORE: Drawing is confirmed as Michelangelo's earliest sketch By Shivali Best For Mailonline Published: 07:30 EDT, 1 November 2024 | Updated: 07:38 EDT, 1 November 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Every year, around five million people flock to Rome to visit the Sistine Chapel. The chapel – Cappella Sistina in Italian – is known for the stunning frescoes that decorate its ceiling, which were painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. Despite their worldwide fame, scientists are still spotting 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 featured in 'The Flood' fresco. This includes a deformed nipple and a slight bulge in her breast, which is 'consistent with a lump'. The researchers believe the representation of breast cancer may have been a message on the inevitability of death.
'Michelangelo's depiction 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 the 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 featured in 'The Flood' fresco Every year, around five million people flock to Rome to visit the Sisti.
