The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarotti
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. Modern scientists have
now proved that Michelangelos representation of the brain is anatomically
accurate. Each angel under the cape stands for a certain part of the brain. It
is fascinating how Michelangelo figured out which part of this complex organ
stands for what part of our personality: he placed the sad angel under Gods
right arm, at the area which is activated when people are thinking sad thoughts
and God in the frontal lobe- the part that is responsible for our personality. If
the whole structure with the cape is perceived as the brain, then the feet of
the god and angels, along with the scarf now transform into the brainstem and
arteries.
Through these various symbols, Michelangelo
communicates a multitude messages and ideas.. The first and most obvious
message being sent to us is the contrast between god and Adam: the lively
wisdom and the inert simplicity of Adam. Seeing Gods figure, full of movement,
and stretching out to Adam, one perceives his willingness to endow Adam with
the spark of life, while on the other hand, Adams relaxed pose shows him as
though taking the prodigious gift for granted, not putting much effort into
receiving the spark. This gives people awareness of how we underestimate the
gift that was given to us by God. The composition also emphasizes the
separation of the man from the world of angels. Now about the anatomical
interpretation: God is located right in the cape, which represents the brain.
This highlights the importance of the brain within a person. Michelangelo was
able to understand that the brain is the organ that gives godly spark to each
person, serves as a possible key into life. This place of God within this image
could also signify that each person has a part of god in themselves, but due to
the strict religious boundaries set during the time of Renaissance, this seems
unlikely. Even though Adam and God haven’t yet linked their hands, the man is
already alive. This is similar the way that neurons are transferred through the
nerves in the brain: the ends don’t touch, even though the message is being
passed. Through Body language, symbols and emotions Buonarotti managed to open
up a great area of interpretation, connecting all of the areas of knowledge.
Even after having analyzed this magnificent piece of
artwork, one can’t claim to have obtained entire knowledge about the piece. One
can never be certain that all of the messages hidden by Michelangelo were
revealed. The only thing that one can be certain of is that this piece is that
it is iconic in terms of describing the Renaissance. Michelangelo managed to connect
art, anatomy, chemistry, biology and theology all into one united work. It is
hard to imagine how Michelangelo obtained such precise information about the
functions of the different parts of the brain, and came up with the idea to
replace it with the angels. The play of emotions of the characters again
fascinates me: the longing expression on Adams face is combined with his
gesture seems to be able to strike a chord in any person. It is relevant to say
that the style of Buonarotti was greatly influenced by the Greek and Roman
artwork, and that the grandeur of Adams torso is an indirect allusion towards
the ancient Greek and Roman gods. After having spent so much time with this art
piece I know that this piece is one of the most outstanding artworks that have
ever been done by a human being, but as Michelangelo once said:" If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it
wouldn't seem so wonderful at all."
Bibliography
1.
Wikipedia free encyclopedia
(n.d.)Sistine Chapel ceiling, retrieved 5 November from http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/michelangelo_2.html