Which Renaissance artist painted The Journey of Moses on the Sistine Chapel’s south wall?

Pietro Perugino painted The Journey of Moses on the Sistine Chapel’s south wall. The fresco is also known as The Journey of Moses and the Circumcision and belongs to the chapel’s original fifteenth-century wall decoration.

The scene presents episodes from the early life of Moses, including his departure from Egypt and the circumcision of his son. Renaissance painters often combined related moments from a biblical narrative within one composition, allowing viewers to read the image as a sequence rather than as a single instant.

Perugino was a leading Umbrian painter whose works were known for orderly compositions, graceful figures, and atmospheric landscapes. His workshop also influenced Raphael, one of the next generation’s most important artists.

The south wall’s Moses cycle parallels the north wall’s cycle of Christ’s life. This deliberate arrangement presents Moses as a precursor to Christ and links the Old Testament narratives to Christian theology. Several artists worked on the cycle, so identifying the painter of each individual fresco is important.