# Creation of Adam [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MICHELANGELO Buonarroti]() - Date: 1501-1550 - Technique: Fresco, 280 x 570 cm ## Commentary Seen against an indistinct natural background that is only just hinted at, as if it were the dawn of the world, the youthful, athletic figure reclining on a grassy slope, almost on the edge of an abyss, seems as if he is about to rise from the ground. He holds out his arm toward that of the Lord, who, borne aloft amidst a flight of angels, stands out brightly against the shell of shadow of his huge purple mantle. The remarkable invention of the outstretched arm and the forefingers about to meet becomes a metaphor for the vital energy that passes from the Creator to the creature fashioned in his image, awakwening his heroic vigor. ## Related artworks - [A Man Lifting a Boar onto his Shoulder \(verso\)]() - [Abraham - Isaac - Jacob - Judah]() - [Achim - Eliud \(detail\)]() - [Achim - Eliud \(detail\)]() - [Achim - Eliud]() - [Aeneas with a Boy \(recto\)]() - [Allegorical figure]() - [Amminadab \(detail\)]() - [Amminadab \(detail\)]() - [Amminadab]() - [Ancestors of Christ: figures \(detail\)]() - [Ancestors of Christ: figures \(detail\)]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()