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The Creation of Adam

Michelangelo, c. 1511

fresco

480 × 230 cm, 189.0 × 90.6 in

Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

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

The Creation of Adam is a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo circa 1511. 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. It is arguably one of the most famous and most appreciated images in the world.

God is depicted as an elderly bearded man wrapped in a swirling cloak that he shares with some cherubim. His left arm is wrapped around a female figure, normally interpreted as Eve, who is not yet created and, figuratively, waits in heaven to be given an earthly form. 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. Famously, Adam's finger and God's finger are separated by a slight distance.

The composition is obviously artistic and not literal, as Adam is capable of reaching out to God even before he has actually been given "life". For this same reason, Eve is visually depicted prior to her own creation. The inclusion of Eve has led some people to believe the female figure must be Adam's mythical first wife, Lilith, although Lilith was also created after Adam.

The similar poses of God and Adam – the positions of God's right leg and Adam's right leg are, for instance, nearly identical – reflect the fact that, according to Genesis 1:27, God created man in his own image. At the same time God, who is airborne and appears against ovoid drapery, is contrasted with earthbound Adam, lying on a stable triangle of barren ground (Adam's name comes from a Hebrew word meaning "earth").

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]

Adam's index finger, the most famous in Western art alongside God's, is in fact not wholly the work of Michelangelo. It was damaged by a crack that appeared in the ceiling in the mid-16th century and was restored by the papacy.

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"^[1]), and that the scarf hanging out, coloured green, could be a newly cut umbilical cord.

"Touched By His Noodly Appendage" is a parody related to the Flying Spaghetti Monster internet meme

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.

The original publicity poster for the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial depicting ET's hand touching that of a boy's hand was modeled after the painting.

The painting was also seen as a background in the arcade game Magic Sword on Floor 38.

1. ^ Stokes, p. 89

The point where God's finger meets Adam's is known as "The Donnadio" or gift of God.

• 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. 1990 Oct 10; 264(14):1837-41.
• Stokes, Adrian (1955). Michelangelo: A Study in the Nature of Art
• Letters in comment: JAMA. 1991 Mar 6; 265(9):1111.