The Prophets and Sibyls appear to be the last word of Michael Angelo
in decorative painting, as Raphael knew, for he assimilated the teaching
both in the beautiful figures of Sibyls at Santa Maria della Pace and the
Prophet Isaiah of San Agostino. The motives of the genii or angels, wise
children whispering in the ears of the foretellers, seem to be inspired by
the sculpture of Giovanni Pisano as seen in the pilasters of the pulpit of
the Church of San Andrea at Pistoia.
It would be endless to try and tell all the thoughts and emotions, both
literary and artistic, suggested by the contemplation of these figures and
by the groups representing the Ancestors of Christ. Suffice it to say,
that all the thoughts that come into the minds of the beholders are as
nothing compared to the thoughts that passed through the mind of the
solitary artist composing and painting upon the high scaffolding of the
quiet chapel.
The series of the Ancestors of Christ illustrate the life of a being upon
this earth, from the terrible moment when the pregnant woman first feels
the pangs of approaching labour, in the semicircle of the window
(inscribed Roboam, Abias) to the lean and slippered pantaloon, who needs a
stick to help him rise from his seat (over the window inscribed Salmon,
Boaz, Obeth); there is the happy mother sleeping with her infant wrapped
in swaddling-clothes (Salmon, Boaz, Obeth); and the old man playing with
the children, (Eleazr, Matthew); the student attentively poring over his
book regardless of the female figure, possibly Inspiration, speaking to
him from the other side of the window (Naason).
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