Description
The Deluge is one of the first scenes Michelangelo painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, in 1508–1509: as the water rises, people flee onto a hill, into an overloaded boat and under a tent on a rock, while Noah’s Ark floats in the distance. The original is a fresco, painted into wet plaster on the vaulted ceiling some 20 metres above the floor. Our painter paints it for you by hand in oils on canvas, in 3 landscape sizes from 160 x 75 to 210 x 100 cm or made to measure, and we send you a photograph of your finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | The Deluge |
| Other titles: | Il Diluvio universale · Die Sintflut |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) |
| Year painted: | 1508–1509 |
| Original size: | about 280 cm x 570 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Fresco |
| Painting style: | High Renaissance |
| Located at: | Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, Vatican City |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 3 sizes or made to measure |
The Deluge – Michelangelo
What does The Deluge show?
The scene is long and low and packed with people caught by the water. A grey-blue flood covers almost everything; all that is left of dry land is a grassy ridge on the left and a bare rock on the right. Most of the figures are nude or half-dressed, as they are elsewhere on the chapel ceiling.
On the left, people scramble up the slope. Mothers hold their children close, a young man carries another person on his back, others carry a bundle or an upturned stool loaded with pots on their heads. Above them a bare tree bends low, and a youth climbs into it while the wind fills his green cloak.
In the middle a boat tips dangerously under too many passengers, as others swim up and cling to its side. Behind them the Ark drifts calmly, a wooden house on a flat barge with a ladder propped against it. On the right a group huddles under a makeshift cloth tent stretched over a rock, and at the water’s edge a grey-haired man carries a young man who hangs limp in his arms.
What is the story behind the scene?
It comes from the Book of Genesis, chapters 6 to 9. Humanity sinks ever deeper into sin and is punished by the great flood; only Noah and his family, who have taken refuge in the Ark, are saved.
Michelangelo does not paint the saved but those left outside. Instead of a miracle we see fear, care for the people closest to us, and help given to one another to the very last.
On the ceiling this is one of three Noah scenes. The first shows a sacrifice, the last Noah’s drunkenness; the Flood sits between them and is the largest of the three fields.
Why is The Deluge so famous?
Because it is among the very first scenes Michelangelo carried out on the ceiling. He started at the west end of the chapel with the Noah stories, and the first phase, which includes this scene, was finished in September 1509.
English Wikipedia notes that the first three scenes hold more and smaller figures than the later ones, evidently because Michelangelo misjudged the size of the ceiling at first. The restoration of 1980 to 1989 revealed brighter colours than visitors had known before.
Between the windows of the same ceiling sit prophets and sibyls, among them The Delphic Sibyl, which we also paint. How all the scenes are laid out is explained in the Wikipedia article on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, in English, which covers the whole ceiling rather than the Flood alone.
Where is the original, and what happened to it?
The original is on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, part of the Vatican Museums. Michelangelo painted the ceiling between 1508 and 1512 for Pope Julius II, and this scene dates from the first two years.
It is a fresco: the colours were laid into fresh, still damp plaster on the curved vault, about 20 metres above the floor.
In 1797 a gunpowder explosion at Castel Sant’Angelo damaged part of the fresco. The pale patch at the upper right is where the plaster fell away, so a piece of sky is missing there. Our painting shows the scene itself, without the painted frame and the nude youths that surround it on the ceiling.
The Deluge or another Michelangelo?
The Deluge is a canvas painting for people who enjoy scenes full of action and are curious about how people behave in a crisis.
If you prefer a single commanding figure, the same ceiling gives you The Prophet Isaiah and The Prophet Ezekiel.
Quite different, round and calm, is The Doni Tondo. All the famous Michelangelo paintings we paint are gathered on the Michelangelo page.
How does our painter bring a fresco onto canvas?
To be clear: the original is a fresco in the plaster of the ceiling, and ours is a hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. We paint it only after you order, layer by layer.
The painter first draws in every group, the hill, the boat, the Ark and the tent, so that the distances between them are right. Then he lays in the pale grey-blue water and sky, and over them builds up the bodies in warm pinks and ochres and the clothing in green, blue, orange and violet.
Frescoes have light, slightly matt colours. In oil they stay clear, and fine brush marks show on the surface whenever light falls across it from the side. Painted in light tones, it looks its best in a room with plenty of daylight.
Which size suits which wall?
In short: 160 x 75 cm above a sofa or a chest of drawers, 180 x 85 cm above a large corner sofa or a dining table, and 210 x 100 cm for a really big wall in a living area, a stairwell or a meeting room.
We paint the scene in 3 landscape sizes (width x height): 160 x 75, 180 x 85 and 210 x 100 cm. All are long and low like the field on the ceiling, so the composition stays whole. The fresco itself is far larger, several metres wide; our largest size is 210 x 100 cm.
Because the scene holds countless small figures, we paint it only in larger sizes, where every face stays readable. As a painting for the living room it is most convincing above a long sofa: keep the lower edge 20 to 30 cm above the backrest and the painting a little narrower than the sofa.
Can I have another size or a frame?
Yes. If you need a different width or height, we adapt the composition so that the hill, the boat, the Ark and the tent stay on the canvas. Send us the size your wall needs and you will get a price and a finishing date.
The Deluge travels to you rolled, on a stretcher bar or already in its frame. Our workshop in Slovenia stretches the long canvas and fits the frame. You pick the frame in our 3D app, which is only for choosing a moulding; seeing the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A slim gold moulding or a pale wood frame suits the light sky, the water and the warm skin tones.
When will it arrive, and how does it travel?
The painter starts as soon as you confirm your order, and The Deluge is ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days. Before we pack it we send you a photograph of the finished painting make any change you ask for.
Within Slovenia and to other EU countries there are no customs duties, and our returns policy applies to every order.
It makes a fine gift for a Renaissance lover or a couple furnishing a new home. If you are unsure which size would fit, give a wall art voucher and let them choose.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original?
On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, which you visit as part of the Vatican Museums.
What are the people in the scene doing?
Fleeing the water: climbing the hill, crowding into the boat and sheltering under the tent on the rock.
Is this a print or a photo?
No. It is a hand-painted copy, made by our painter with brush and oil paint.
How big is the original?
The fresco is several metres wide, larger than any of our sizes; the biggest of them is 210 x 100 cm.
Could I order a size that is not listed?
Yes. Send us the width and height you need, and we will reply with a price and a date.
How long does it take to make?
15 to 45 working days, and you receive the photograph of the painting before dispatch.
Does it work in a lounge?
Very well, especially above a long sofa or a sideboard, where the landscape format comes into its own.
What does the Ark in the background mean?
It is Noah’s Ark, in which his family survived; the people in the foreground have been left outside.
- Subject: people flee the water onto a hill, into an overloaded boat and under a tent on a rock; Noah’s Ark floats in the background.
- Original: fresco, 1508–1509, Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican; the field is several metres wide.
- Ours: a Michelangelo reproduction painted by hand in oils on canvas, 3 landscape sizes, 160 x 75, 180 x 85 and 210 x 100 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: one of the first scenes Michelangelo painted on the ceiling; a piece of sky was lost in an explosion in 1797.
