Renaissance Blog
"The Creation of Adam"
I chose this piece by Michelangelo because of the hands. As a child, my grandparents owned a painting of just the hands, and I often wondered where the hands were coming from. My curiosity has been fulfilled, and I am in awe of this fresco mural painting.
In my research, I found that Michelangelo took a break while constructing the Sistine Chapel Ceiling. At first he did not want to paint the piece for the Pope but ended up starting the project in 1508. Humanism was being revived at the time and people had the freedom to express their faith through the arts. Michelangelo chose to paint what he thought was Heaven and The Last Judgement. The expression between humans and the spiritual realm was brought to life between the years of 1508-1512 by Michelangelo is the most beautiful and realistic manner.
The lines within this art piece are a mixture of many different lines: bold and defining lines, organic lines within the hair, the blue and green behind Adam appear between bold and organic lines, and the red and turquoise sashes appear to be satin by their lines of softness. The lines that create God, Eve, and the cherubs are evenly balanced; they create a sense of togetherness.
The first shape that catches my eye is the red sash around God, Eve, and the cherubs; the next shape is that of the landscape that Adam is laying upon; and lastly, the body parts' shape is defined and balanced extremely well with the organic shapes. Even though God is surrounded, He does not look like a messy blob. This piece was carefully thought out and incredibly applied.
The
negative space is white and gives me the feeling of "Eternity," while
the cracks keep me here in the present. The blue represents two things to me:
the blue sky or a river, while the green represents grass and the promise of
growth. I sense that Adam is in the Heavenly realm because of the hand grasping
upwards in the bottom left corner underneath Adam.
The use of
color within this piece calms me, even with the bold red, crisp blue, stark
white, and darkening green. The serene faces of Adam, Eve, and the Cherubs give
gentleness to this piece while God looks determined. The color of God's hair
does not make Him look old; it gives Him a deep sense of wisdom. The clothing
God is wearing appears carefully thought out and executed as it flows with the
movement of His body. I found the value to be evenly balanced; a white
background gives a sense of separation, and the bold red that encompasses God,
Eve, and the Cherub is deep and rich yet softened by the look of satin.
The fresco-style painting
of "The Creation of Adam" gives a 3-D sense when looking at it. I am
drawn to the touch of the fingers, and I think a 1-point perspective was used
in this piece. Fresco-style
painting has texture and form that is meant to last for centuries.
Works Cited
Michelangelo,
Copyright www.Michelangelo.org. All Rights Reserved—the Creation of Adam. Accessed. 21
February 2024.
Britannica, The
Editors of Encyclopedia. "fresco painting." Encyclopedia
Britannica, 27 September 2023,
https://www.britannica.com/art/fresco-painting. Accessed 21 February 2024.
Wikipedia
contributors. "Sistine Chapel ceiling." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 8 February
2024. Accessed. 21 February 2024.
Hi, This is one of my favorite paintings i love how you described the different thicknesses of the lines that are used that i never really noticed. what is the background of this painting, along with the history of what it relates to? You have great attention to detail! My eyes automatically go towards the hands almost touching. I feel as though it's a sense of doubt
ReplyDeleteThank you for reminding me of the history!!! I enjoy this piece a lot.
DeleteThe Creation of Adam artwork brings out some raw emotions in me when I look at it. And when you see it it shows that it is part of the Renaissance theme too. The main detail of the fresco is surely represented by the fingers of God and Adam touching each other. You feel that Adam wants to connect and get something from god but he just doesn't have the strength, while god has his finger out that seems to have strength and is ready to energize Adam. I love how you describe this painting. In this one spot of the mural that you are talking about it brings a lot of emotion. And this is just one little piece of what is in the Sistine Chapel. This is a place I could go and spend all day in and probably still never get to see it all. Such a beautiful masterpiece and it is so neat that you chose something that your parents have up on the wall, well the hands. On the website Live One Good Life, they have some really interesting facts and show other parts of the mural that are really neat too. Did you know that the Creation of Adam painting is the second most painting copied in the world behind The Last Supper? And it's most famous for where the fingers touch? I find that so neat that out of all of it, it is the fingers trying to touch. Thank you for sharing this painting! Here is the website with the facts I found.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.liveonegoodlife.com/2021/the-creation-of-adam-by-michelangelo/
Thank you for this in-depth response!! My whole life I have looked at the hands & now that I know where they are from I can research more pieces. Thank you for the link, I saved it to my search engine.
DeleteI enjoy looking at things from the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo was a sculptor when the Pope commissioned him to paint the chapel and even though he didn't want to paint the ceiling we agreed to do it since at the time no one said no to the pope also the payment was a ridiculous some of money at the time. I have actually had the pleasure of visiting the Sistine Chapel and seeing this work in person. Albeit painted in Fresco style Michelangelo also used techniques that were ahead of his time. When looking at the ceiling of the Chapel it looks like it is curved all the way, but the ceiling is actually flat across the top.
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