But here again Michelangelo betrayed the inconsequence of his invention.

He filled the spaces in question with nine dominant paintings, representing the history of the Creation, the Fall, and the Deluge.

Taking our position at the west end of the chapel and looking upwards, we see in the first compartment God dividing light from darkness; in the second, creating the sun and the moon and the solid earth; in the third, animating the ocean with His brooding influence; in the fourth, creating Adam; in the fifth, creating Eve.

The sixth represents the temptation of our first parents and their expulsion from Paradise.

The seventh shows Noah's sacrifice before entering the ark; the eighth depicts the Deluge, and the ninth the drunkenness of Noah.