The Creation of Adam

The Creation of Adam
Artist	Michelangelo
Year	c. 1511
Type	fresco

The Creation of Adam is a fresco painted by Michelangelo circa 1511 that appears on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. 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.

Composition

The Creation of Adam prior to the restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes

God is depicted as an elderly bearded man wrapped in a swirling cloak while Adam, on the lower left, is completely naked. 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 appearance that God, the giver of life, is reaching out to Adam and Adam is receiving. The pink backdrop behind God is in the shape of a brain. Michelangelo may have used this symbol to show God's plan of creation which had not yet been revealed to the first man.

The woman in the crook of God's arm is often depicted as Sophia by the Gnostics. Christian tradition places Eve under God's arm as the next creature that He intends to bring into existence. The green ribbon that flows from the woman represents the human life that will be borne through the woman.

The two figures behind God's left and right shoulders are an allusion to the Trinitarian God. Both faces are aligned with that of the Father. The one on the right just behind the woman has his hair blown back, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. While Jesus' divine nature sits behind the shoulder on the left, Jesus' human nature can also be found on the right with God's finger resting on His shoulder. Adam's fall is foreshadowed with Jesus' human nature turning away from creation representing the agony he will experience as the New Adam.

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, love and strength. [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 a 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. 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"), and that the scarf hanging out, coloured green, could be a newly cut umbilical cord.

Influence on popular culture

The Simpsons parodied the work in The Homer of Seville

As one of the most well-known artworks of all time, The Creation of Adam has been subject to a number of parodies. Many of these parodies substitute different characters for God, Adam, or both.

• It is the first image seen—even before "Leo the Lion" -- during the overture and opening credits to the 1959 version of Ben-Hur. The camera moves in slowly on the image, finally focusing on God's and Adam's hands.
• The original publicity poster for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial depicting ET's hand touching that of a boy was modeled after the painting.
• The painting was also seen as a background in the arcade game Magic Sword, mainly on Floor 38. However, the scaled-down SNES port of this game does not have this background.
• The first opening of the Death Note anime series has a still frame based on The Creation of Adam, with the protagonist Light Yagami as Adam and the death god Ryuk as God, holding an apple.
• In an episode of Arrested Development, The Creation of Adam is recreated with living representations.
• In an episode of Family Guy, Peter Griffin, hired to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, paints an OBEY stencil instead of The Creation of Adam.
• In an episode of The Critic, Alice shows Jay an exact replica of The Creation of Adam that she painted on her apartment wall.
• In the TV version of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the faces of Adam and God are used to illustrate the Guide's entry for the Babel Fish.
• Spaceship Earth, a ride at Disney's Epcot theme park in Orlando, Florida, depicts the painting of The Creation of Adam on the ceiling of the chapel, just before transitioning to the invention of the steam engine.
• In the 2008 videogame Grand Theft Auto IV, the character Bernie has the painting on the wall of his apartment, only instead of Adam, Bernie's face has been painted over it.
• In 2001: A Space Odyssey, David Bowman reaches out to touch the monolith before the monolith gives him the spark of life to transform into a Star-Child.
• The artist Benedict Campbell did a futuristic re-interpretation of The Creation of Adam, featuring only Adam and a female God, wearing skin tight silver body suits, and suspended within an open building reminiscent of Greek architecture: [2]
• A promotional poster for the film Bruce Almighty is based on the Creation of Adam, with actor Jim Carrey (who played the role of Bruce Nolan, the lead character of the movie) taking the place of Adam.
• In the film 2012's trailer, it is shown cracking between god and adam's hands.
• In Atlantis Squarepantis,a painting is shown similar to it with Squidward as Adam and a bearded squid as God.

External links

• Positive critique of The Creation of Adam painting

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.