Sistine Chapel ceiling identity of the figures in the lunettes and spandrels, continue to defy interpretation. Modern scholars have sought, as yet unsuccessfully, to determine a written source of the theological program of the ceiling and have questioned whether or not it was entirely devised by the artist himself, who was both an avid reader of the Bible and a genius. Also of interest to some modern scholars is the question of how Michelangelo's own spiritual and psychological state is reflected in the iconography and the expression of the ceiling. One such speculation is that Michelangelo was tormented by conflict between homosexual desires
Sistine Chapel ceiling various components of the ceiling are linked to this Christian doctrine. Traditionally, the Old Testament was perceived as a prefiguring of the New Testament. Many incidents and characters of the Old Testament were commonly understood as having a direct symbolic link to some particular aspect of the life of Jesus or to an important element of Christian doctrine or to a sacrament such as Baptism or the Eucharist. Jonah, for example, was readily recognisable by his attribute of the large fish and was commonly seen to symbolise Jesus' death and resurrection. While much of the symbolism of the ceiling dates