The Ancestors of Christ: Salmon, Boaz and Obed

This lunette from the Sistine Chapel ceiling depicts Salmon, Boaz, and Obed — three generations in the ancestry of King David and ultimately of Christ. Boaz is the kinsman-redeemer from the Book of Ruth, making this lunette an illustration of one of the most beloved stories in the Hebrew Bible. These ancestor figures, painted in the curved lunettes above the chapel windows between 1511 and 1512, represent the human lineage through which salvation would come. Michelangelo treated them with unusual domestic intimacy, showing family groups in poses of quiet contemplation.

The composition adapts to the lunette's curved format with figures arranged on either side of the central inscription tablet, their poses naturally filling the arched space. The painting technique is notably free, with thin washes of color applied over a light ground that gives the figures a luminous, almost transparent quality. The acid-bright palette of yellows, greens, and violets represents some of the most adventurous color in the entire ceiling program.