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The Creation of Adam

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The Creation of Adam
ArtistMichelangelo
Yearc. 1512
Typefresco

The Creation of Adam is arguably the most famous section of Michelangelo's fresco Sistine Chapel ceiling painted circa 1511–1512. It is traditionally thought to illustrate the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God 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. It is the most well-known of the Sistine Chapel fresco panels, and its fame as a piece of art is rivaled only by the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. The image of the near-touching hands of God and Adam has become one of the single most iconic images of humanity and has been reproduced in countless imitations and parodies. Along with Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper, The Creation of Adam and the other Sistine Chapel panels are the most replicated religious paintings of all time.

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 who receives it; they are not on "the same level" as would be two humans shaking hands, for instance.

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 feminine build.[1]

The Creation of Adam is generally thought to depict the excerpt "God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him" (Gen 1:27). 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]

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, M.D. 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] Dr. Meshberger's interpretation has been discussed by Dr. Mark Lee Appler.[4] On close examination, borders in the painting correlate with major sulci of the cerebrum in the inner and outer surface of the brain, the brain stem, the frontal lobe, the basilar artery, the pituitary gland and the optic chiasm.[5] 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. Further, below the right arm of God, the painting shows a sad angel in an area of the brain that is sometimes activated on PET scans when someone experiences a sad thought. God is superimposed over the limbic system, the emotional center of the brain and possibly the anatomical counterpart of the human soul. God's right arm extends to the prefrontal cortex, the most creative and most uniquely human region of the brain.

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, coloured green, could be a newly cut umbilical cord.[7] "This is an interesting hypothesis that presents the Creation scene as an idealised representation of the physical birth of man. It explains the navel that appears on Adam, which is at first perplexing because he was created, not born of a woman."[8]

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. In the disaster film 2012, the entire College of Cardinals are seen praying silently under the ceiling. The ceiling then starts to crack, commencing at the point where God's and Adam's fingers nearly touch, dividing the two. The American comedy rock band Tenacious D parodied the painting on the front cover of their 2006 album The Pick of Destiny. The painting was also featured in the T.U.F.F. Puppy episode Watch Dog, where Dudley finds the chief when he travels back in time.

Notes

Michelangelo's main source of inspiration for his Adam in his "Creation of Adam" seems to have been a cameo showing a nude Augustus Caesar riding sidesaddle on a Capricorn. This cameo is now at Alnwick Castle, Northumberland. The cameo used to belong to Cardinal Domenico Grimani who lived in Rome while Michelangelo painted the ceiling. Evidence suggests that Michelangelo and Grimani were friends. One can view a black and white image of this cameo by typing "Augustus, cameo, capricorn" on Google Image. The only parts of Michelangelo's Adam that could not have been borrowed from this cameo are his right hand and arm, and Michelangelo had to draw Adam's right hand and arm three times when he made the drawing for Adam that is now in the British Museum. Some scholars have been dissatisfied with the theory Michelangelo was mainly inspired by Lorenzo Ghiberti's Adam in his "Creation of Adam". This cameo offers an alternative theory. "Cameo Appearances on the Sistine Ceiling," Source: Notes in the History of Art, Vol. XXXII, No. 2, winter 2013, pp. 12-18.

References

  1. ^ Leo Steinberg, Who's who in Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, in Art Bulletin, December 1992, pp. 553-554.
  2. ^ Veni, Creator Spiritus / Come Holy Spirit, Creator Blest. Preces-latinae.org.
  3. ^ Meshberger, Frank Lynn (10 October 1990). "An Interpretation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam Based on Neuroanatomy". JAMA. 264 (14): 1837–41. doi:10.1001/jama.1990.03450140059034. PMID 2205727. Retrieved September 24, 2012. Pdf.
  4. ^ Appler, Mark Lee (6 March 1991). "The Creation of Adam: Divine Funster Decrees We Are What We Eat: Chicken?". Letters in comment: JAMA. 265 (9): 1111. doi:10.1001/jama.1991.03460090059025. PMID 1995993. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
  5. ^ http://www.mentalhealthandillness.com/creation_fr.html, Mental Health & Illness.com, Retrieved September 21, 2010.
  6. ^ Stokes, p. 89
  7. ^ Bruschini, p. 112.
  8. ^ Bruschini, p. 112.

Media related to Creation of Adam at Wikimedia Commons

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