Michelangelo Research Paper

Similoluwa Oluwole
Professor Bult
ART 107
13 November, 2015
Michelangelo and his work: Creation of Adam Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, commonly known as Michelangelo, was born on March 6, 1475 at Caprese, Tuscany now known as Italy (Roger 2). Michelangelo, like Leonardo, was a man of many talents; he was a renowned Florentine sculptor, architect, painter, and poet. He is credited as the founder of the high Renaissance style and considered the most influential of late Renaissance artists (Houston 16). His works exhibit his remarkable understanding of human anatomy and muscular structure, a skill which he used to incorporate emotion and liveliness into his works. He rarely painted landscapes; his subject matters were mostly human,

Though, influenced Michelangelo’s works and texts has religious theme and his art embodied a notion and vision of human dignity and reliance on the Creator. Michelangelo was completely committed to art and religion and lived prudently despite his fame. According to Roger, Michelangelo “was affectionate and generous to his family and friends, but he is also inclined to be distrustful and withdrawn harboring a sharp temper and a sarcastic tongue” (Eugène 62). In the art world, Michelangelo is viewed as an archetype Renaissance character due to the extraordinary order and flexibility he displayed in his works. Roger noted that, Michelangelo, together with Leonardo da Vinci, are the most-documented artist of the 16th century. Michelangelo created numerous breath-taking art works; however the Sistine Chapel in Rome art works in remains one of his most celebrated works. The work consisted of various paintings but the ‘Creation of Adam’ is particularly fascinating, it presented utterly realistic representation of human

Adam is entirely naked and positioned on the lower left. God’s right arm is extended as if imparting the spark of life into Adam, whose left arm is extended in a mirroring pose of God’s. The mirroring pose suggests the underscoring of humanity’s creation in God’s image (Vasquez 18). Notably, the fingers of Adam and God do not touch indicating that God, the giver of life, is reaching out to Adam with life. Eugène stressed that it is difficult to misinterpret the ‘Creation of Adam’ fresco as within the Adam panel the symmetry of this creature on a summit coming to life is exposed. The lines upon which the fresco is ordered show this remarkable symmetry and can be easily observed by noting the tracings displaying symmetry and the connection between the two figures—a feature which is fundamental to the work