CUADRO XI

MIGUEL ÁNGEL, The Creation of Adam (c. 1511)

 

Characteristics of this picture
Name	The creation of Adam
Artist	Michelangelo
Year	1511 / 12
Type and dimensions	Fresco 280 cm × 570 cm
Location	Sistine Chapel (Vatican City)

 

 

"God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him" (Genesis 1: 26-27).

 

The Creation of Adam is a fresco painting by Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted c. 1511–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from Book of the Genesis in which God breathes life into Adam , the first man. The fresco is part of a complex iconographic scheme and is chronologically the fourth in the series of panels depicting episodes from Genesis. It is the most well-known of the Sistine Chapel fresco panels, and its fame as a masterpiece of art is rivalled only by Leonardo da Vinci´s Mona Lisa.

The image of the near-touching hands of God and Adam has become iconic of humanity and has been reproduced in countless imitations and parodies.Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper and Michelangelo's Creation of Adam are the most replicated religious paintings of all time.

The focal point of the episode of the Creation of man is the contact between the fingers of the Creator and those of Adam, through which the breath of life is transmitted. God, supported by angels in flight and wrapped in a mantle, leans towards Adam, shown as a resting athlete, whose beauty seems to confirm the words of the Old Testament, according to which man was created to the image and likeness of God.