The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo (Sistine Chapel)

(Hayes Holly, Sacred Destinations 2005-09)

Art Analysis

Classification

Name of the Work: The creation of Adam.

Name of the author: Michelangelo Buonarotti.

Period: Italian Renaissance (1520-1570).

Place where the work is at: Sistine Chapel, Vatican City. (vault)

Technique: Fresco (wall fresco).

Analysis

Color: Tertiary or intermediate

Paleta: Cool, he uses cream colors

Aplication: Flat

Composition: Unbalanced.

Type of Line: Linear

Perspective: By contrast because it mixtures the colors.

Lighting: Contrasted.

Theme: Religious

Principles: Asymmetrical Balance, Movement, Proportion.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WORK

What is so special and unique about this work of art?
Searching on the web I couldn’t find the answer for this question, so then I began to think a little bit and I discover that the special and unique value that has the work art, is the one that you only you give it. In my opinion this painting is very important because it describes our life our human life since the creation and it was created in the most important period on art history, the Renaissance. Also it is unique to me because it is only one in the world and only one like this in the Sistine Chapel and it was only painted by Michelangelo.

RELEVANT EVENTS OF THE CONTEXT

What was the prevailing atmosphere of the period? What was the cause of it?
This painting took place in the Renaissance period that began in the Italian countries, in this time of the humanity the church was the one that controlled all the things that the people could join into, such as politics, ideologies, religion, dances and art. The only reason was that the church didn’t want that the people disturb the whole city with intellectual arguments.

What were the predominant political, religious or artistic ideologies?
The only strong and unifying force in Europe was the Roman Catholic Church, this controlled all the aspects in Europe. The pope, as head of the Catholic Church, wielded spiritual authority over all of Europe. The church and the state were viewed as two different aspects of one Christian society, sometimes referred to as Christendom.
As towns grew in Italy, they demanded self-rule and often developed into strong, independent city-states.
In the artistic ideologies all was related to God and biblical information but then all began to be about the human being in the world with some biblical and religious aspects.

("Renaissance," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009)
(Encyclopedia Británica, Renaissance)

What scientific and technological advances made and impact in the period? In which way?

• New conceptions of the universe.


• Spirit of curiosity and experimentation.


• Human anatomy.


• Structures and processes of nature.


• Discoveries in navigation.


• Laws of motion.

This advances impact the period because it was a whole process named the Renaissance, which goal was to improve the human lives with the self expression, although this theories and discoveries were important because the artists had an idea of how to do their work. Can we imagine a painting without the anatomy discovered by Vesalius or the spirit of curiosity proposed by many philosophers of the age, if they wouldn’t be able to discover those things, we couldn’t thing that a period named Renaissance existed.
("Renaissance," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009)
(Dowling, Mime “The Renaissance”

Is this work of art reflecting the atmosphere of the period? In which way?
Yes, it is. The way that this work of art reflects the atmosphere of this period is that Michelangelo wanted to express on his chronological paints around the Sistine Chapel and this is not the exception. The paint is related to God that means that it is a religious type, then we can see that the model look like a real human with the anatomic characteristics and the divine proportion. And in general it is like reflecting that the man wants to be more near to god and maybe be like him a single human in the earth.
(Emil Kren and Daniel Marx , Web Gallery of Art)

REFLECTION: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE CONTEXT AND THE WORK


Is this work of art reflecting the predominant ideologies of the period? In which way?
Yes, it expresses the humanism view of the Renaissance period.
We can see God and a human in this case Adam, they have near their index finger like sowing us power and a distance but what Michelangelo really wanted to express is that the human is like God and it is the most beautiful thing here in the world. This is a characteristic of the humanism lived in the Renaissance.
It look like they want to change all the standards that were in that period according to the church.
(Emil Kren and Daniel Marx , Web Gallery of Art)

Is the impact of the scientific and technological advances reflected in this work of art? In which way?
We can not see it in all the painting but I think that the anatomic cuts on the human are well done by the author and maybe math operations. But in general I don’t think that this paintings show us scientific advances, because it is more ideological sense.
(Emil Kren and Daniel Marx , Web Gallery of Art)

What are the aspects of the period that you identify yourself with? Why
The thing which I completely identify myself, is with the spirit of curiosity and experimentation, because I really like to discover new things and searching for new things I get sometimes big problems, cause I confuse myself.
I actually admire the human but not in the way of beauty like in the Renaissance, I admire his complex and structure and the way it realizes all the process that a human need to do for live in this world.

Bibliography:

Searched: October 3 2009

Available at:

Sacred Destinations
Hayes, Holly, http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-sistine-chapel-photos/slides/ceiling-adam-wga

Browse the World
Dowling, Mike, "The Renaissance," http://www.mrdowling.com/704renaissance.html

Ciber Nous “Filosofía en la Red”
Elena Diez de la Cortina Montemayor, “El renacimiento” http://www.cibernous.com/crono/historia/renacimiento/rena.html


Renaissance
“Renaissance," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2009http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2009 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554186_5/Renaissance.html#s15


Renaissance
"Renaissance." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 05 Oct. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/497731/Renaissance>.

Centro virtual de Redacción del Tecnológico de Monterrey
Formato MLA, http://serviciosva.itesm.mx/cvr/formato_mla/


Art Analysis (ITESM)
http://cursos.itesm.mx/courses/1/GDA.PD3003.331.0913.18202/content/_32158832_1/dir_Alumnos.zip/elemento_177426.html