The person of Jeremiah is imagined as lost in anguished meditation.

Although the painting portrays Jeremiah as lamenting over the Destruction of Jerusalem, critics[who?]

have interpreted the figure as a self-portrait by Michelangelo, with the artist lamenting over the weight of his sins.

Or perhaps Michelangelo is bemoaning his situation being forced by Julius II to paint when he wished to sculpt.

Influential English critic Roger Fry used the figure to illustrate his emotional elements of design, or how formal elements such as mass and space produce emotion: When, for instance, we look at Michelangelo's "Jeremiah," and realise the irresistible momentum his movements would have, we experience powerful sentiments of reverence and awe.