Nine scenes from Genesis in the center section.
1. The Separation of Light and Darkness
2. The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Earth
3. The Separation of Land and Water
4. The Creation of Adam
5. The Creation of Eve
6. The Temptation and Expulsion
7. The Sacrifice of Noah
8. The Great Flood
9. The Drunkenness of Noah
10 Shields representing:
Abraham about to sacrifice his son Isaac
The Destruction of the Statue of Baal
The worshippers of Baal being brutally slaughtered.
Uriah being beaten to death.
Nathan the priest condemning King David for murder and corruption.
King David's traitorous son Absalom caught by his hair in a tree while trying to escape and beheaded by David's troops.
Abner sneaking up on Joab to murder him
Joram being hurled from a chariot onto his head.
Elijah being carried up to Heaven
On one medalion the subject is either obliterated or incomplete.
12 Prophetic figures on the "pendatives"
Jonah (IONAS) - above the altar
Jeremiah (HIEREMIAS)
Persian Sibyl (PERSICHA)
Ezekiel (EZECHIEL)
Erythraean Sibyl. (ERITHRAEA)
Joel (IOEL)
Zechariah (ZACHERIAS) - above the main door of the chapel
Delphic Sibyl. (DELPHICA)
Isaiah (ESAIAS)
Cumaean Sibyl. (CVMAEA)
Daniel (DANIEL)
Libyan Sibyl (LIBICA)
Seven Prophets
The seven prophets of Israel chosen for depiction on the ceiling include the four so-called Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. Of the remaining twelve possibilities among the Minor Prophets, the three represented are Joel, Zechariah and Jonah.
Five Sibyls
The sibyls were prophetic women who were resident at shrines or temples throughout the Classical World. The five depicted here are each said to have prophesied the birth of Christ. The Cumaean Sibyl, for example, is quoted by Virgil as declaring that "a new progeny of Heaven" would bring about a return of the "Golden Age". This was interpreted as referring to Jesus.
