The creation of Adam

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The Creation of Adam (Michelangelo)
The creation of Adam
Michelangelo , between 1508 and 1512
fresco
480 × 230 cm
Sistine Chapel
detail
detail

The creation of Adam is an often reproduced section from the ceiling fresco by the painter Michelangelo Buonarroti in the Sistine Chapel . It belongs to a cycle of nine individual frescoes, which represent Gen 1-9  EU figuratively. It shows how God the Father brings Adam to life with an outstretched forefinger .

description

The picture shows Adam on the left , stretching out his left index finger to reach God. God the Father stretches out his right index finger, more powerfully and gracefully, in order to let the spark of life jump over to Adam.

God the Father floats, surrounded by numerous putti , in front of a large red cloth in the background. A young female figure looks at Adam from under his left arm.

detail

The creation of Adam is in the spatial and contentual context with the creation of Eve and the double image The Fall and the Expulsion from Paradise .

The female figure under the arm of the Creator is seen by many art scholars as the prefiguration of the still unborn Eve, who casts a fearful look at Adam. A memorial is placed on her in the poem "Die Jungfrau" by CF Meyer .

The creation of Adam in context

Others

According to studies by neuromedicist Frank Meshberger, the composition of the depiction of God the Father should correspond to the cross section of the human brain down to the color detail.

The picture is extremely popular, often only the two hands are reproduced as a section and can be found as art prints in many homes.

It was parodied in the picture Touched by His Noodly Appendage ( Touched by his noodle appendage” ), in which the flying spaghetti monster is shown instead of God the Father .

literature

  • Lieselotte Bestmann: Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel . Munich: Piper Verlag, 1999. ISBN 3-492-22888-7
  • Rolf H. Johannsen: 50 classics. Painting. The most important paintings in art history . Hildesheim: Gerstenberg Verlag, 2001. ISBN 3-8067-2516-0
  • Robin Richmond: Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel . Freiburg im Breisgau: Herder Verlag, 1999. ISBN 3-451-26912-0
  • King Ross: Michelangelo and the Pope's frescoes . Munich: Albrecht Knaus Verlag, 2002. ISBN 3-8135-0193-0
  • Wieland Schmied (ed.): Harenberg Museum of Painting. 525 masterpieces from seven centuries . Dortmund: Harenberg Lexikon Verlag, 1999. ISBN 3-611-00814-1

swell

  1. Frank Lynn Meshberger: An Interpretation of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam Based on neuroanatomy. In: The Journal of the American Medical Association 264 (14), 1990, 1837-1841, (abstract) ; (Reprint) (PDF), on: Wellcorps International News to Use; The Mystery of Michelangelo's 'Creation of Adam' , at: www.bbc.co.uk.

Web links

Commons : The Creation of Adam  - Collection of images, videos and audio files