Three central scenes are dedicated to the story of Noah.
Michelangelo organized the ceiling’s nine central Genesis panels into three groups of three. The final group concerns Noah and his family: The Sacrifice of Noah, The Great Flood, and The Drunkenness of Noah. These scenes occupy the end of the Genesis cycle and portray humanity’s sin, punishment, survival, and continuing imperfection.
The panels are thematic rather than strictly chronological in the way they are arranged for viewing. The Noah group nevertheless connects clearly as a narrative. The sacrifice represents thanksgiving after deliverance; the Flood shows the destruction of the sinful world and Noah’s family escaping in the Ark; and Noah’s drunkenness reveals that human weakness remains even after the catastrophe.
The number three can be confused with the ceiling’s other groupings. There are nine Genesis scenes overall, divided into three groups: Creation, Adam and Eve, and Noah. The Adam-and-Eve group contains three panels as well, although the Fall and Expulsion combines two episodes in one image. The ceiling also includes prophets, sibyls, lunettes, spandrels, and medallions, but those are not part of the three Noah scenes.