Uzziah, Jotham and Ahaz

This lunette depicting Uzziah, Jotham, and Ahaz continues the genealogical program of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Michelangelo’s treatment of these biblical ancestors transforms a potentially static genealogical list into a vivid gallery of human types, each figure individually characterized through pose, expression, and gesture. Characteristic of the artist's mature approach, the work displays Herculean anatomy, terribilità—an overwhelming physical and spiritual force—sculptural conception applied to painting, non-finito technique, monumental scale even in intimate works.

The grouped figures fill the lunette’s curved space with characteristic Michelangelesque invention. Each figure’s muscular form is modeled with the sculptor’s instinct for three-dimensional volume that distinguishes Michelangelo’s painting.