The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarotti

The period of the Renaissance, which lasted from the 14th to 17th century, is the time when man came back from the devastation he was put through during the Middle Ages, and regained almost all of the abilities that were achieved by him during the Greek and Roman time periods, specifically artistic. The Renaissance is also when most of the famous religious art was produced. The Renaissance is determined to have been born in Florence, Italy, just like one of the most famous renaissance sculptors and artists ever known- Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarotti Simoni. Michelangelo is believed to born the 6th of March 1475, and is known to have died the18th of February 1564. During his long lifetime of 64 years, he produced a vast number of artistic and architectural masterpieces, such as the Pieta, the sculpture of David, the dome of St. Peters Basilica in Vatican. Among all of these amazing works, one that was probably defined Michelangelo in a new sense, as a painter, was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The chapel was built due to a commission made by Pope Sixtus, after whom the chapel was later named. The one who summoned Michelangelo for this specific job, was Julius II. Even though the four years of painting the chapel were torturous and full of struggle for Michelangelo, during that time he produced images, that are now considered legendary.

"The Creation of Adam", one of the nine scenes from the book of genesis, Is placed right in the center of the chapel, emphasizing the importance of this particular stage. As a person walks into the Sistine chapel, his or her eyes are primarily attracted right to the center, where the scenes about Adam and Eve, including the "Creation of Adam" are portrayed. Even though the ultimate central piece is "God creates Eve", the true emphasis is drawn to the masterpiece, "Creation of Adam". This is effect is achieved due not only to the beautiful quality of the work, but also due to the larger scale of this work over the "Creation of Eve" and "Adam and Eve tempted and outlawed out of Eden". Appreciating all the fabulous painting, it is important to notice that Michelangelo didn’t intend to be a painter at all. His primary qualification was sculpting, so it can be said, that he was "forced" into painting. Even though Michelangelos’ performance in the Sistine Chapel is superlative, while creating the images on the ceiling, he was experiencing great difficulties: he was learning how to handle a new media-plaster and pigment, or the art of fresco. The Fresco is a very difficult manner to work in; as the work has to be completed on wet plaster, and done before it dries. It is known, that Buonarotti had such difficulties with this technique that once he had to chip off twenty days worth of work. When first looking at the magnificent "Creation of Adam", the sensation that strikes me the most is the realism of the bodies of Adam, a muscular and young man, lying on a hill in a fairly relaxed pose, casually stretching his arm to God, while on the other hand, is not relaxed at all. He is pictured as an elderly bearded man, being carried in a cape with angels, and with great effort, reaching out towards Adam to give him the spark of life. The dimensions of this particular art piece are 280 cm x 570 cm, so all of the human figures are bigger than the real life. Even though Adam appears to be quite inert and lacking action compared to his creator, the beauty of the human body redeems that fact. Once after all, the God had created the man "in his own image". Michelangelo shrewdly weaves in this idea into the work, by making the right leg of Adam a complete replica of the right leg of god, and also curving their bodies in similar ways, in other words Michelangelo was very keen to hiding various symbols in his work.

I n order to achieve these various goals, such as communicating a message, and dazzling the spectators with the marvelous appeal to reality, Michelangelo Buonarotti had to use the basic rules of art: the principles and elements of design. Using the basic principles of design: balance, contrast, proportion, rhythm, emphasis, unity, contrast, harmony, repetition, and combining them with the elements: line, shape, direction, size, texture color and value, an artist can create any kind of work he wants to. The first element that strikes the eye is the composition of this piece. God is pictured in the top right corner, while Adam is in the bottom left. Their linking hand form a diagonal that adds more action to the painting itself, and complements the rather casual poses of the characters. The flaring green ribbon serves a similar function, creating movement and drawing us into the painting, as well as the feet of god and the angels, which are almost touching the right edge of the painting, therefore serving a role of a pathway. The ratio between the negative and the positive space is well balanced: the simplicity of Adams surroundings is evened out by the dynamics created by the angels and the voluminous red cape in the top left corner. Another diagonal that lies within this piece is the green hill which Adam is resting upon. The color of the hill serves a role of unification, as it pairs up with the flaring green scarf and unifies the work by connecting the two sides. Even though God and Adam share a similar position, God is elevated over him. This symbolizes the superiority of the deity over the ordinary man. Another curious thing to notice is the similarity between the red cape filled with angels with a human organ, particularly the brain. This allusion to the human organs explains the choice of the color for the cape and the complex weaving done by the bodies of the angels. ............