The nude male figures surrounding the central panels are called ignudi. The Italian singular is ignudo, meaning a nude or naked figure, while ignudi is the plural.
Michelangelo placed 20 ignudi at the corners of the five smaller Genesis scenes running along the center of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. They appear to support or frame painted medallions, ribbons, garlands, and other decorative elements. Their athletic bodies and twisting poses gave Michelangelo an opportunity to display his command of anatomy, movement, and foreshortening.
Their exact meaning remains uncertain. Some scholars interpret them as angelic or idealized beings, while others emphasize their decorative role and connection with classical sculpture and Renaissance ideas about ideal human beauty. They are not caryatids or telamones: those terms describe architectural supporting figures, whereas ignudi are a distinctive group of painted Renaissance nudes. They are also different from putti, the childlike figures common in Renaissance art.