During the Renaissance, Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the new chapel that Popes would hold masses for centuries to come. Painted on the celling were hundreds of images depicted from Bible verses, especially from the creation story of Genesis. In one particularly famous image, “The 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 portrayal of Adam as weak and vulnerable, Michelangelo is able to display God’s power over man as a way to remind people- that no matter how powerful the human race becomes, God will always control what happens to them as a race. 

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, it 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 top of a grassy cliff in the nude and God is fully clothed and appears supported by flying angles, lying on a red fabric of some sort to show the separation between the two worlds. 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 wiser and portrays a father figure. Adam is also nude, because he was “just born” and is supposed to represent vulnerability and innocence. Michelangelo also uses bright and warm colors to portray Adam’s freshness and innocence, 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’s, God’s, and the angels’ skin tone, 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 that appears to be a fabric of some sort. 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. Along with paying close attention to color, Michelangelo painted Adam to fit the body standards of the time period as a “true Renaissance man.”

The Renaissance 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 and not just gods. Since the art periods of Greco-Roman and the Renaissance are very similar, the characters in the artwork are going to be very similar as well. 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 “The Creation of Adam”, Adam is shown as this ideal Renaissance man. Every muscle of his body is in top physical form, even though he was just created. The people of the Renaissance believed that God’s perfect man was very similar to theirs because artists of the time believed that God was influencing them when they painted, which is why they had such incredible abilities. Also, since everything God created had no mistakes, the first human ever to be created had to be perfect as well, hence the “ideal man” portrayal. The vision that the perfect man is youthful, is also depicted in Adam not only through the way his body looks, but through his expression. Adam’s expression of need and desperation shows that he is about to be given life through God’s touch and needs God to not only give him life but also love, affection and tools he needs for survival.  God’s facial expression shows that he is willing to give Adam life and love because he is Adam’s father and will protect him as long as he does what he says. 

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, even though God’s love is infinite, it is conditional. God will protect Adam as long as Adam follow’s God’s rule of not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge. This power dynamic between God and Adam is shown through Adam’s nakedness and being pictured alone, which explains Adam’s vulnerability to God’s power. God is clothed and surrounded by angels all covered by a red fabric. This fabric is shielding the angels because they live in Heaven and have yet to see the horrors that are about to happen on earth. Adam is shown alone and on a cliff. Adam is alone because he is the first human created in God’s image and he is in his first minutes of becoming a man. One of the main reasons people feel vulnerable is because they are alone. Even though Adam has God to protect him, he is basically alone in a strange new place. Adam is also vulnerable because of his position. He is pictured to be sitting on a Cliffside. This seems very dangerous because if Adam is in his first few minutes of life, he probably does not know how to walk and if he is on a Cliffside, then he could easily fall over, making him more vulnerable. Meanwhile, God is safely hovering above him, with the no worry about falling.  

Michelangelo was an insightful painter of his time who was able to pair modern Renaissance artwork with religion and produce a piece that satisfied his and the Church’s ideas of art. Through different techniques of color, body image and exploiting Adam, Michelangelo was able to take 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 in a style that is still prevalent today, so even more people can enjoy it. By using specific color choices, popular Renaissance techniques and showing the power dynamic between God and Adam, Michelangelo was able remind humans that they are simply mere mortals and are no match for God’s almighty power and strength. 
