Musée du Ben

What’s up Art lovers?

Let’s begin this long 5-minute voyage from the artwork which is painted in the ceiling. You have to bend your back as well as your mind and thoughts to get the real meaning portrayed in this artwork. Drop the anchor and let’s dive deep into episode 1 of Artworks.

The Creation of Adam is a sensational piece of artwork done by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (I know most of you skipped the surnames let’s keep it ‘Michelangelo’) for a time period of 4 years (1508-1512). It can be found in the ceiling of Sistine chapel of Vatican City. Michelangelo devised a special type of painting called ‘fresco’, where water colouring is done on wet plaster as it absorbs the paint soon. It is the most replicated religious paintings of all time. This Painting is popularly known as ‘ICON OF HUMANITY’

STORY TIME

Let’s hear the story how this task landed on our renaissance artist Michelangelo

In 1505, Pope Julius II called Michelangelo to Rome to give a commissioned task to decorate Pope’s tomb. Well, we can say that the Pope called the right man. The Pope wanted Michel to complete 40 statues and painting the ceiling of a chapel in the 5-year period. We should agree that was pretty much a tedious task.

VIGOROUS TASK AND INTERRUPTIONS

   The task on the ceiling was about painting 12 apostles in a triangle and placing an ornament at its center. But Michelangelo proposed painting 9 episodes from the Book of Genesis in the central part of the ceiling. TALK ABOUT IDEAS. He painted more than 300 figures in 500 sq.m. He did this single handed. Imagine the pressure and effort he has to put for this task. He felt really hard to be under the patronage of the Pope because there was no proper rest or tools provided for finishing this task

    Michelangelo painted the whole ceiling standing and bending backwards to face the flat surface for 4 years. You got to admit his spinal cord is very strong! He also did some mocking towards Pope in his paintings which we’ll see in the upcoming episodes of Michelangelo.

WHERE DID HE GET HIS INSPIRATION?

   Michelangelo got his main source of Inspiration from a relic where Augustus Caesar riding side-saddle on a Capricorn. Cardinal Domenic Gremani owned the relic and he was a close friend of Michelangelo.There was also an old hymn ‘Veni Creator spiritus’ which says about a finger of the paternal right hand. These works inspired Michelangelo TO CREATE THE CREATION.

SINKING INTO DETAILS

    The artwork shows God reaching out to Adam(humankind)with the help of angels. God is depicted as an old wise man with grey beard and hair, though he seems to be old by his looks, he is muscular and strong which is essential for the creator of all living beings. Besides being the superior God, he doesn’t wear shining robes and crown, instead, he wears a light tunic cloth which also doesn’t cover the whole body. On the other side, Adam is painted nude and reaching his left hand towards God, whereas God reaches out his right hand which means that humans are created in the mirror image and likeness of God himself.

“God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him”

-Genesis 1:27

    Walter Pater, an English art critic says that one among the 12 angels is Eve and others being unborn progenies. He states that Eve is the one below God’s shoulders and looking at Adam due to the feminine appearance. There is also an assumption that the angel is Virgin Mary by the Book of Wisdom. If you closely look at God’s left finger, you can see a baby cherub which is widely assumed as Child Jesus Christ. From this representation, we can understand that God is pointing his son which is the same finger used by priests in prayer mass for Eucharistic ceremony.

IS IT A BRAIN? AN UTERUS?

Brain

   When you analyse the painting little too much you might end up cracking the whole context of this artwork. YES, look at the outline of God’s side. It resembles a human brain; the inner and outer surface resembles the sulci of cerebrum and the green stroke at the bottom looks like the brain stem. This conception delivers an agnostic theory that

‘Divine gift does not come from higher power ; it is in our own mind’

-Antony Hopkins(Westworld S1 E7)

   There are other figures inside the chapel ceiling where brain is hidden in the neck. Michelangelo used to explore corpses for understanding anatomy to sketch human subjects. No wonder people say God is present in our body and we consider it as a holy temple.

Uterus

    Let’s look at it in different perception, the red cloth behind the God looks like a uterus and the green stroke is the umbilical cord. We usually express god and nature as our mother. If the place where Adam lies is a women’s torso, the blue layer behind Adam resembles a nipple structure. God provides life to a human body, so do the mother. If the Bible says Adam was ‘created’ by God, how does he bear a navel (occurs in natural mother birth) in his body as per this painting? Did Michelangelo fail to notice the flaw? It is indeed puzzling. We might find many questions left unanswered when we look deeper.

 What does the face say?

   Humans face expression tells about their mood and how the body is feeling. Our face becomes dull when we’re sick and bright when we’re healthy, as does the faces in the painting convey.

     God’s face is very narrow in view and focuses on Adam. This shows that God has a purpose for all his creations and he expects perfection in it. Metaphorically God is an OCD person, For e.g.: Universe.The angels supporting God does not have their wings, also they are very curious and focused to God about what he’s going to do next.

    The face of Adam looks very dull, uninterested and demotivated. He is more relaxed and natural in his existence. Take a look at his arms, he doesn’t give any effort to reach out to touch God. It’s pathetic that the face resembles every 8am-5pm office goers.

The mystery of untouched fingers

   This ‘Creation of Adam’ got its popularity because of the untouched fingers between God and Man. Many theories suggest that the gap between the fingers is the spark of life. God trying to provide life and intellectual by touching humankind. But the real question is whether the fingers are joining or getting separated?.The finger of Adam is facing down which shows that God and humans are not on the same level and the dullness in Adam’s face depicts that he is lifeless and less devoted as like the humankind in today’s world. There are many other theories which suggest that God is trying to provide a component which is not present in human beings. Immortality? Maybe. The question is better left unanswered to avoid the confusion in your mind.

    The Creation of Adam is a bestowal to the Renaissance of Europe. There have been some cracks in the chapel ceiling now due to smoke which also expresses the sins and imperfection of humankind. Let’s dwell upon such amazing artworks and contemplate its unique details.

Please do leave your view of the painting. Share this with your friends and celebrate art!

Weigh the anchor and hoist the mizzen. Everyone! Board the ship we’re going to visit another beautiful discovery soon.