michael-angelo the creation of adam
...known to be a small portion of the newly created earth. According to classical Greek and Roman prototypes Adam is portrayed, in appearance as the perfect human male, with rippling muscles and elegant contours. However Adam also appears weak and languid his leg is needed to support his limp and somewhat lifeless left arm. Adam’s arm is reaching out to gods, awaiting the touch that will award him with life, intellect and a soul. God and Adam’s fingers are tantalizingly close, just a hairs breath away from touching. You never see that final contact, however the composition enables he viewer to perceive the passage of a spark bounding the gap between the two hands. If you then follow god’s arm you will come to a stop at the majestic figure of the Holy Father. In appearance god is the complete opposite of Adam, instead of weak and languid he is strong and full of energy. God is wearing a graying beard and a pink tunic whereas the young Adam is nude. You can see the love in god’s eyes and it’s said that god wishes Adam to be no less than himself. Also seen surrounded the figure of god is a group of angels and cherubs that appear to be lifting god. If you follow gods left arm you will find that it reaches out and around a young female child, which has been interpreted as the unfinished form of Eve, or of Sophia the divine wisdom. Whoever it is undoubtedly signifies innocent and pure rapture. If you then proceed down god’s arm you will find that his hand comes to rest upon a young child angel, which is now known to be the Christ child (Jesus Christ). In 1988 the Sistine Chapel ceiling was restored. The grime, dirt and soot was removed from the roof and the magnificent colours that were first painting by Michaelangelo began to shine brightly once more. The re-appearance of these vibrant colours resulted in a much more awe-inspiring scene. And allows a much broader analysis to be made for these frescoes. This masterpiece is one of the most famous of Michaelangelo’s paintings and has been interpreted in many different ways. However there are some that believe that the creation of Adam and the majority of the Sistine ceiling is more than just impressive pieces of art, they believe that Michaelangelo has hidden the entire human anatomy system in these narrative paintings. It was Frank Meshberger, a medical student at the Indianapolis School of Medicine that first discovered this theory. Dr Meshberger had been looking at a coloured reproduction of ‘the creation of Adam’ when he was struck by the image surrounding god and the angels; he discovered what appeared to be “ the unmistakable outline of the mid-sagittal cross section of the human brain.” He began analysing the fresco further and found that one of the angel’s backs was the pons, the angel’s legs and hips were the s...