Genesis supplies the central stories on Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. The nine principal panels narrate key events from the first book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament.
The sequence begins with the Separation of Light from Darkness and continues through the Creation of Adam, the Creation of Eve, the Fall, the Flood, and the story of Noah. These scenes move from the creation of the world toward humanity’s early history.
The central panels are surrounded by prophets, sibyls, ancestors of Christ, and supporting figures. This arrangement places the Genesis narrative within a larger Christian interpretation of salvation history.
Genesis is sometimes confused with Exodus because Moses scenes appear on the chapel’s side walls. Those wall frescoes form a separate narrative cycle. The ceiling’s main storyline is specifically drawn from Genesis.