
During the Renaissance time period, Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the new home of Popes for centuries to come. Painted on the celling were hundreds of images depicted from Bible verses, especially from the creation story of Genesis. One particularly famous image, “Creation of Adam”, God is seen reaching down from Heaven, trying to touch Adam’s outstretched hand, giving him life as the first human being in existence. Through the color palate, the Renaissance’s ideal image of man, and the audience of the visual text, Michelangelo was able to romanticize the act of God giving Adam life. 

Michelangelo’s depiction of God creating Adam, is based on a scene from the book of Genesis in the Bible, so even though there is no actual text in the painting, the painting is based off of a text. In the painting, God is reaching down to Adam from Heaven, while Adam is reaching up to God from Earth. Adam is pictured laying on a on top of a grassy cliff in the nude and God appears to be floating, and is being supported by angels and a fabric of some sort to show the separation between the two worlds. God is also fully clothed. In the creation story, Adam (and later his wife Eve), are blissfully unaware that they are nude until they eat from the Tree of Knowledge and gain Original Sin. God however, sees and knows all, so he is clothed because he is aware of feelings such as shame and self-consciousness. Adam is also nude, because since he was “just born”, he is supposed to represent vulnerability and innocence. Michelangelo also uses bright and warm colors to show these feelings of vulnerability, but also the feeling of safety, because God is the protector and father. 

Michelangelo’s color choices of bright reds and greens, are offset by the warm neutrals that are Adam, God, and the angels’ skin tones, along with a blank background so the viewer can focus on the main events going on in the foreground. Adam is pictured on a grassy cliff side that combines the neutral brown with the bright green, to make a tan Adam pop against the background. God, who is dressed in white, is floating in the air surrounded by flesh-colored angels and a bright red background. God’s white clothing gives him a superiority amongst the others, because he is the only one in the image who is clothed. The white background behind them eliminates a distraction point for the viewer, and allows one to concentrate on what is going on in the front of the painting, and the focal point, which is the two hands reaching out to meet one another. Another important aspect of the painting, is how the bodies are painted, and the Renaissance’s image of the “ideal man”.

The Renissance period took a lot of its inspiration from the Greek and Roman cultures. The Greeks and Romans would often depict their gods as flawless creatures, and the Renaissance painters painted their models the same way, yet in their paintings, every human was perfectly sculpted. The perfect Renaissance man was one of culture and education, but also one of perfect stature. Tall, muscular and no traces of wrinkles showed the ideal man. In “Creation of Adam”, Adam is shown as this ideal Renaissance man. The vision that the perfect man is youthful, is also depicted not only through the way Adam’s body looks, but through his warm skin tone and lack of clothing, the audience senses those feelings of vulnerability and rawness. 

The painting “Creation of Adam” was originally painted for the celling of the Sistine Chapel, the Chapel in Vatican City, where the Roman Catholic Pope lives. Michelangelo is painting for a very specific audience in mind, especially since he was paid by the Church to do the painting. This painting has a very romanticized idea of what the creation of Adam really was like. It is beautiful and whimsical, but it is also very religious, and has little room for interpretation. Since the image came from a Bible scene, it had to appeal to the Roman Catholics, who were the main audience for the painting. The depiction of God as an old man with a beard is a very child-like interpretation of what God might be or look like. 

Michelangelo was one of the most famous artists of his time. By using different techniques of color, body image and appealing to the audience, Michelangelo is able to show the audience a major story of the bible and paint it in a way that the audience can understand and is appealing to their tastes in art. Through the color palate, the Renaissance’s ideal image of man, and the audience of the visual text, Michelangelo was able to romanticize the act of God giving Adam life. 