The Creation of Adam
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| 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.
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[edit] Composition
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.
Many hypotheses have been formulated regarding the identity and meaning of the figures around God. The person protected by God's left arm might be Eve due to the figure's feminine appearance and gaze towards Adam, but was also suggested to be Virgin Mary, Sophia, the personified human soul, or an angel of masculine build[1].
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[2].
[edit] 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[3][4][5], 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.
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"[6]), and that the scarf hanging out, colored green, could be a newly cut umbilical cord.
[edit] Influence on popular culture
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.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Who's who in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, Leo Steinberg, in Art Bulletin, December 1992, pp. 553-554.
- ^ Veni, Creator Spiritus / Come Holy Spirit, Creator Blest. Preces-latinae.org.
- ^ Meshberger, Frank Lynn. "An Interpretation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam Based on Neuroanatomy", JAMA. 10 October 1990; 264(14):1837-41.
- ^ http://www.mentalhealthandillness.com/creation_fr.html, Mental Health & Illness.com, Retrieved September 21, 2010
- ^ Dr. Mashberger's interpretation has been discussed by Dr. Mark Lee Appler. "The Creation of Adam: Divine Funster Decrees We Are What We Eat: Chicken?" Letters in comment: JAMA. 6 March 1991; 265(9):1111.
- ^ Stokes, p. 89
[edit] References
- Day, Fergus & Williams, David (ed.) (1998). Art: A World History
- Stokes, Adrian (1955). Michelangelo: A Study in the Nature of Art
[edit] External links
Media related to Creation of Adam at Wikimedia Commons
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