Did Michelangelo Paint A Brain in God's Neck?

[moobu2]

Two neurosurgery researchers at Johns Hopkins University say Michelangelo hid something within one of his Sistine Chapel frescoes: an anatomically accurate painting of the human brain.

And they found it in God's neck in the fresco, The Separation of Light from Darkness. That's the painting immediately above the chapel's altar, says Dr. Rafael Tamargo, a neurosurgery professor and co-author of an article in the journal Neurosurgery.





"As we studied the lines that Michelangelo had included in the neck, we were surprised to find that if you follow these lines, you can actually draw an anatomically correct view of the brainstem," Tamargo tells NPR's Robert Siegel.

He says Michelangelo started dissecting cadavers when he was 17 years old.

"So he probably had the ability and the material to carry on multiple dissections and eventually sort out the gross anatomy of the brain," he says.

But what was Michelangelo's motive for drawing a brain in God's neck?
NPR

[elleng]

1. Ask CTyankee!!!

[mzteris]

2. because "god" was created by man

who thought they needed someone to look up to.

[catgirl]

3. How bizarre! n/t

[laconicsax]

4. Looks like God's got at least a B-cup. n/t

[LaurenG]

5. Well if he can have a brain in his neck I suppose he could have breasts.

I also wonder if he thought of god as both male and female.

edited to change a word

[laconicsax]

6. It's possible.

In Judaism, the volcano has both masculine and feminine forms. Maybe Michaelangelo had something like that in mind.