The Creation of Adam

Composition

God is depicted as an elderly white-bearded man, wrapped in a swirling cloak while Adam, on the lower left, is completely naked. God's right arm is outstretched to impart the spark of life from his own finger into that of Adam, who is actually already created but inert (see Gen. 2:7), and whose left arm is extended in a pose mirroring God's, a reminder that God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness" (Gen. 1:26). The inspiration for Michelangelo's treatment of the subject may come from a medieval hymn, "Veni Creator Spiritus", which asks the 'finger of the paternal right hand' (digitus paternae dexterae) to give the faithful speech. The two index fingers, however, are separated by a small gap [3⁄4 inch (1.9 cm)], and some scholars think that it represents the unattainability of divine perfection by man.

Many hypotheses have been formulated regarding the identity and meaning of the twelve figures around God. According to an interpretation that was first proposed by the English art critic Walter Pater (1839–1894) and is now widely accepted, the person protected by God's left arm represents Eve, due to the figure's feminine appearance and gaze towards Adam, and the eleven other figures symbolically represent the souls of Adam and Eve's unborn progeny, the entire human race. This interpretation has been challenged, mainly on the grounds that the Catholic Church regards the teaching of the pre-existence of souls as heretical. Consequently, the figure behind God has also been suggested to be the Virgin Mary, Sophia (the personification of wisdom mentioned in the Book of Wisdom), the personified human soul, or "an angel of feminine build".

Analysis

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.

Depiction of the human brain

In 1990 in Anderson, Indiana, physician Frank Meshberger noted in 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. On close examination, borders in the painting correlate with major sulci of the cerebrum in the inner and outer surface of the brain, including a distinctive Sylvian fissure, the brain stem, the frontal lobe, the basilar artery, the pituitary gland and the optic chiasm.

Depiction of the birth process

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") and that the scarf hanging out, coloured green, could be a newly cut umbilical cord. In 2015 a group of Italian researchers published on Mayo Clinic Proceedings an article where the images of the mantle and the postpartum uterus were overlapped. According to Enrico Bruschini (2004), "This is an interesting hypothesis that presents the Creation scene as an idealised representation of the physical birth of man ("The Creation"). It explains the navel that appears on Adam, which is at first perplexing because he was created, not born of a woman."

Depiction of Eve's rib

Additionally, in 2019 Deivis Campos noted in the Clinical Anatomy Journal that the left side of Adam's torso contains an extra concealed rib. Due to Michelangelo's in-depth knowledge of human anatomy, he insinuates that this rib outline is intentional, and represents the rib of Eve.

Campos suggests that this extra rib inclusion was a way for Michelangelo to represent Adam and Eve being created side by side, which differs from the Catholic tradition that states Eve was created after Adam. There is significant evidence that Michelangelo radically disagreed with many Catholic traditions and had a tumultuous relationship with the commissioner of the ceiling, Pope Julius II. Thus, Campos suggests that the rib inclusion was an intentional way to slight Pope Julius II and the Catholic Church, without having to admit fault, as very few people knew anything about human anatomy at the time and could challenge the piece.

Critical sketches

Michelangelo was a prolific draftsman, as he was trained in a Florentine workshop at a dynamic time in the art scene, when paper had become readily available in sufficient quantity. As follows, sketching was the first step in Michelangelo's artistic process, as it helped him plan his final paintings and sculptural pieces. Thus, Michelangelo's sketches provide a critical link between his creative vision and final compositions. This is especially evident through his sheets "filled with multiple figures and close studies of human anatomy."

Preliminary studies

Michelangelo completed two sketches in Rome in preparation for the Creation of Adam scene. They are both in the British Museum in London, revealing Michelangelo's in depth planning process for the Sistine Chapel ceiling composition, and his serious attention to perspective and shadowing.

The first is a Scheme for the Decoration of the Vault of the Sistine Chapel: Studies of Arms and Hands. The right side of the page was sketched in 1508 with black chalk, and is a study of Adam's limp hand, before it is ignited with the gift of life from God, in the Creation of Adam scene. Michelangelo sketched this over a previous brown, lead point stylus study of the vaulted Sistine Chapel ceiling. The entire composition is 274 millimeters in height and 386 millimeters in width. The second sketch is titled Studies of a Reclining Male Nude: Adam in the Fresco "The Creation of Man." It was created in 1511 in dark red chalk, over a stylus under drawing. Red chalk was Michelangelo's preferred medium at this period of time, as it could be shaved to a finer point than black chalk. Michelangelo used this fine point to create a scintillating skin surface, that was unique for this particular sketch, and is not seen in his later works. The recto drawing is 193 millimeters in height and 259 millimeters in width.

Studies of a Reclining Male Nude

In a well known study in red chalk in the British Museum, Adam is resting on earth, propped up by his forearm, with his thighs spread out and his torso slightly twisted to the side. Michelangelo employed a male model to capture this pose and used his red chalk to develop thick contours, in order to establish a definitive form, so every chapel visitor could clearly recognize the muscular body from standing on the floor, 68 feet below the ceiling.

In Michelangelo's final fresco on the ceiling, Adam is physically beautiful, but spiritually still incomplete. The sketch prefaces this story, as it is also incomplete in the sense that the only complete component of the drawing is Adam's twisted torso. Adam's other limbs bleed off of the trimmed page in immature form. However, the work is not "unfinished", as it reached its purpose for Michelangelo, which was to work out the details of the torso in the medium of chalk so he was confident in the composition when he began the actual, permanent fresco panel.

Context

Michelangelo heavily studied the human body and dissected numerous cadavers in his artistic career, and over time became captivated by the male torso. In his treatises on painting and sculpture, Leon Battista Alberti, defined the male figure as a "geometrical and harmonious sum of its parts". Michelangelo however, felt that the torso was the powerhouse of the male body, and therefore warranted significant attention and mass in his art pieces. Thus, the torso in the Study represents an idealization of the male form, "symbolic of the perfection of God's creation before the fall".