Salmon, Boaz, Obed

This painting depicts Salmon, Boaz, and Obed from the genealogy of Christ as represented in the Sistine Chapel ceiling's lunette and spandrel series. These three generations bridge the period of the Judges to the establishment of the Davidic monarchy, with Boaz being the husband of Ruth and great-grandfather of King David. The ancestor figures in the Sistine Chapel represent ordinary humanity in the lineage of Christ, painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. This section is housed in the Vatican Museums as part of the chapel's permanent installation.

The figures are rendered with Michelangelo's characteristic powerful modeling, their poses adapted to fit the curved architectural spaces of the chapel's upper walls. The color palette employs the iridescent, changeable hues — shifting between warm and cool tones within single garments — that became one of the most influential aspects of the Sistine ceiling's restoration. The rapid, confident brushwork reflects the speed at which Michelangelo worked on these subsidiary figures.