Note 193 — Chapter III · (XVII.)
Louisa S. Maclehose translation
Michelangelo’s greatest tour de force in foreshortening, much lauded by Vasari in his Life of the master, is the figure of the prophet Jonah on the end wall of the Sistine chapel. It is painted at the springing of the vault, on a surface that is inclined sharply towards the spectator, but the figure is so drawn as to appear to be leaning back in the opposite direction.