Why it matters
Part of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, The Creation of Adam shows God giving life to the first man: one of the most replicated religious images ever made. Michelangelo had been hired to paint the twelve apostles, but persuaded Pope Julius II to let him cover the ceiling with the Creation, the Fall and the prophets instead.
Did you know?
- The ceiling took about four years to paint, from 1508 to 1512.
- According to the biographer Condivi, Bramante pushed the commission onto Michelangelo, a sculptor, hoping he would fail at fresco.
- It is the fourth in the sequence of scenes from Genesis on the ceiling.
Based on the Wikipedia article The Creation of Adam (CC BY-SA 4.0).
