Prophet Joel (Michelangelo)

The Prophet Joel
ArtistMichelangelo
Yearcirca 1508–1512
TypeFresco
Dimensions390 cm × 380 cm (150 in × 150 in)
LocationSistine Chapel, Vatican Palace, Vatican City

The Prophet Joel is one of the seven Old Testament prophets painted by the Italian High Renaissance master Michelangelo (c. 1508–1512) on the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The Sistine Chapel is in Vatican Palace, in the Vatican City.

This particular fresco imagines the person of Joel, a prophet from the Hebrew Bible, whose teachings appear in the Book of Joel. Critics have often commented on the rhythmic posture of the figure, and the artist's use of several inner horizontal lines for the clothing, which stands out when compared to some of the other frescoes. But the most engaging part of the fresco is the face of the central figure, a portrait of the architect Bramante,[1] which appears to reveal wisdom, disdain and intense focus all at once; the open scroll in his hands only enhancing this sense of wisdom.

  1. ^ Robertson, Charles (1986). ""Bramante, Michelangelo, and the Sistine Ceiling"". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 49: 105. doi:10.2307/751291. JSTOR 751291. S2CID 195040792. Retrieved 15 February 2023.