Was michelangelo Jewish? Authors Benjamin Bleich and Roy Doliner don't quite make that claim in their new book The Sistine Secrets (JR Books) but they do point out that not one of the 300-plus figures depicted on the artist's great ceiling in the Vatican is drawn from the New Testament. Michelangelo had studied Judaism in Florence and, the authors maintain, the Sistine ceiling is evidence of his concern to preach Jewish teachings and wisdom, calling for religious tolerance.