Twelve sibyls and prophets are painted on the ceiling’s pendentives.
Michelangelo arranged these 12 prophetic figures around the upper portions of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The group consists of seven prophets from the Hebrew Bible and five sibyls, prophetesses from the classical world whose writings were interpreted in Christian tradition as anticipating the coming of Christ.
The seven prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Zechariah, and Jonah. The five sibyls are the Persian, Erythraean, Delphic, Cumaean, and Libyan Sibyls. They alternate along the sides of the chapel and are identified by inscriptions on painted tablets.
Strictly speaking, art historians often describe the architectural spaces as spandrels or doubled spandrels rather than true pendentives. The quiz’s intended count remains 12, however. These figures are distinct from the nine central Genesis scenes, the lunettes showing Christ’s ancestors, and the decorative ignudi.