Skip to main content

Secondary sourcePainting1551

Seated Nude from the Sistine Chapel, 1551 print

I. Duerenhert, after Michelangelo · 1551

A 1551 engraving copying one of Michelangelo's nude figures from the Sistine Chapel ceiling, part of a series of 20 prints.

This print copies one of Michelangelo's nude figures from his Sistine Chapel ceiling, made during his lifetime.

Ask Michelangelo Buonarroti about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Engraving of a seated muscular nude male figure with a flame-like headdress, twisting torso, and draped cloth, on a plinth. Inscription at lower right reads Michael Angelus pinxit, I. Duerenhert fecit, 1551.
Seated nude from the Sistine Chapel, after Michelangelo. Engraving by I. Duerenhert, 1551. Rijksmuseum, Netherlands.

About this source

What it is

This engraving, dated 1551 and inscribed with the names of Michelangelo and the printmaker, shows a seated muscular nude male figure from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. It belongs to a series of twenty prints reproducing his nude figures from the chapel, and is held by the Rijksmuseum.

Why it matters

Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling with many nude figures, which became hugely influential for later artists. Prints like this, made during his lifetime by others, show how quickly his work was being copied and studied across Europe.

Look closer

  • What does the pose of the figure suggest about Michelangelo's interest in the human body?
  • Why might printmakers want to copy his figures rather than invent their own?
  • What is lost when a painted figure is turned into a black-and-white engraving?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Michelangelo Buonarroti on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Michelangelo Buonarroti sources

Meet the AI Michelangelo Buonarroti →
Full-length white marble statue of a nude young male figure standing in contrapposto, one hand raised to his shoulder, the other at his side, set on a rough base within a domed, pale-walled room.Sculpture

Primary source

David

Michelangelo · 1501-1504

A printed plate, numbered 106, in a bound album showing an engraved elevation of a wall tomb with architectural niches, statues, reclining figures, a central arched niche with a seated figure, and a circular medallion at top. Handwritten German caption below reads Entwurf für ein medicäisches Doppelgrab (Orig. in d. Albertina).Artifact

Primary source

Elevation of a Planned Double Tomb for the Magnifici, Medici Chapel

unbestimmt

Wide view of the painted Sistine Chapel ceiling: a grid of framed panels with figures, nude and draped, with pendentives and lunettes in the corners, painted in warm earthy tones.Painting

Primary source

Sistine Chapel ceiling

Michelangelo · 1508-1512

Michelangelo's fresco The Last Judgment on a wall. Christ sits at center in a blue halo surrounded by nude figures. Angels blow trumpets above, the dead rise from the ground, and figures fall into a boat and down toward hell at the bottom.Painting

Secondary source

The Last Judgment

Michelangelo · 1536-1541

Engraved reproduction plate, page numbered 25, of Michelangelo's seated marble statue of Moses in an ornate architectural niche. Moses has a long flowing beard and horns, holds his beard with one hand, and rests on a pedestal inscribed with Latin text. Pencil caption at lower left reads S. Pietro in Vincoli.Photograph

Secondary source

Statue of Moses by Michelangelo, San Pietro in Vincoli

unbestimmt

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Michelangelo Buonarroti now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions