- The Creation of Adam
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The Creation of Adam 
Artist Michelangelo Year c. 1511 Type fresco Dimensions 480.10 cm × 230.10 cm (189.0 in × 90.6 in) The Creation of Adam is a section of Michelangelo's fresco Sistine Chapel ceiling painted circa 1511. It illustrates the Biblical story from the Book of Genesis in which God the Father breathes life into Adam, the first man. Chronologically the fourth in the series of panels depicting episodes from Genesis on the Sistine ceiling, it was among the last to be completed.
Contents
Composition
The Creation of Adam prior to the restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes
God is depicted as an elderly white-bearded man wrapped in a swirling cloak while Adam, on the lower left, is completely nude. God's right arm is outstretched to impart the spark of life from his own finger into that of Adam, whose left arm is extended in a pose mirroring God's, a reminder that man is created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). Another point is that Adam's finger and God's finger are not touching. It gives the impression that God, the giver of life, is reaching out to Adam and Adam is receiving.
The inspiration for Michelangelo's treatment of the subject may come from a medieval hymn called Veni Creator Spiritus, which asks the 'finger of the paternal right hand' (digitus paternae dexterae) to give the faithful speech. [1]
Anatomical theories
Several hypotheses have been put forward about the meaning of The Creation of Adam's highly original composition, many of them taking Michelangelo's well-documented expertise in human anatomy as their starting point. In 1990 an Anderson, Indiana physician named Frank Lynn Meshberger noted in the medical publication the Journal of the American Medical Association that the background figures and shapes portrayed behind the figure of God appeared to be an anatomically accurate picture of the human brain, including the frontal lobe, optic chiasm, brain stem, pituitary gland, and the major sulci of the cerebrum. Meshberger also argues that there appears to be communication present despite the gap between the depicted Adam and God, just as neurons transmit biochemical information across synaptic clefts.[1] Alternatively, it has been observed that the red cloth around God has the shape of a human uterus (one art historian has called it a "uterine mantle"[2]), and that the scarf hanging out, colored green, could be a newly cut umbilical cord.
Influence on popular culture
The Simpsons parodied the work in "The Homer of Seville"The Creation of Adam is one of the most well-known and famous artworks of all time, and as such has been the subject of a number of references and parodies. Many of these parodies substitute different characters for God, Adam, or both.
Notes
- ^ http://www.mentalhealthandillness.com/creation_fr.html, Mental Health & Illness.com, Retrieved September 21, 2010
- ^ Stokes, p. 89
References
- Day, Fergus & Williams, David (ed.) (1998). Art: A World History
- Meshberger, Frank Lynn. "An Interpretation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam Based on Neuroanatomy", JAMA. 10 October 1990; 264(14):1837-41.
- Stokes, Adrian (1955). Michelangelo: A Study in the Nature of Art
- Letters in comment: JAMA. 6 March 1991; 265(9):1111.
External links
Media related to Creation of Adam at Wikimedia CommonsMichelangelo Key: *Attributed · †LostSculptures Florence, c. 1488–92†Head of a Faun (c. 1488) · Madonna of the Stairs (c. 1491) · Battle of the Centaurs (c. 1492) · Crucifix (1492)Ark of St Dominic (1494–95)†Sleeping Cupid (1496) · †Standing Cupid · Bacchus (1496–97) · Pietà (1499–1500) · David (1501-04) · Madonna of Bruges (1501–04) · St. Paul (1503–04) · St. Peter (1503–04) · Pius (1503–04) · Taddei Tondo (c. 1503) · Pitti Tondo (c. 1503) · St. Matthew (c. 1505)Tomb of Pope Julius IIMoses (c. 1513–15) · Rebellious Slave (1513–16) · Dying Slave (1513–16) · Young Slave (c. 1519–36) · Bearded Slave (c. 1519–36) · Atlas Slave (c. 1519–36) · Awakening Slave (c. 1519–36) · The Genius of Victory (c. 1532–34) · Rachel (1545) · Leah (1545)Medici Chapel (1519–34)Cristo della Minerva (Christ Carrying the Cross) (1519–20) · Crouching Boy (c. 1530-34) · Brutus (1540) · *Palestrina Pietà (1550) · Florentine Pietà (c. 1550) · Rondanini Pietà (1552–64)
Paintings *The Torment of Saint Anthony (c. 1487-88) · Manchester Madonna (c. 1497) · Doni Tondo (c. 1503–06) • †Battle of Cascina (1504) · The Entombment (c. 1505) · †Leda and the Swan (1530)
Ceiling (1508–12; including Separation of Light from Darkness, Creation of Adam, Prophet Jonah, Prophet Jeremiah, Prophet Daniel, Prophet Isaiah, Prophet Joel, Prophet Ezekiel, Prophet Zechariah) · The Last Judgment (1534–41)Cappella Paolina frescoes (1542–50)Architecture Piazza del Campidoglio (1538) · Palazzo Farnese (1546) · St. Peter's Basilica (1546–1564) · San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (1559–60) · Porta Pia (1561–65) · Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri (1561–)Works on paper Epifania (c. 1550–53)Milieu Cecchino dei Bracci · Tommaso dei Cavalieri · Vittoria Colonna · Ascanio Condivi · Sebastiano del Piombo · Febo di Poggio · Luigi del Riccio · Gherardo PeriniCategories:- Michelangelo paintings
- Sistine Chapel
- 1511 paintings
- Paintings with biblical themes
- Adam and Eve
- Fresco paintings
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