Italian renaissance

 

                        Michelangelo - Creation of Adam

Introduction

This post will be about the Italian Renaissance, because I find it to be more intriguing in my opinion, also most of the artists that created these wonderful works, like Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, Donatello, Titian and many more are famous and a popular topic, when it comes to discussions of art. If I would be asked about the ownership of this mural and if I would ever have this replicated on a ceiling in my home, then I would most definitely love to see this mural painted either in a library room or in a pool room.

The work of art I chose for this blog post is Michelangelo's Creation of Adam. This was my choice, not only because of the legendary status of the work, but also because it is a part of an even bigger work of art - the mural on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, which was all created by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512. 

Emotions and The Creation of Adam

The Creation of Adam is a work that imposes a feeling of familiarity with the Italian renaissance world, because of the popularity of it, but it also is a work that has dominant light colors that make it seem positive, while the characters depicted in the mural are Adam and God, with God breathing life into Adam, for him to become the first man. This was typical for Italian renaissance, since these works usually depicted religious characters. For the space, shadowing is used to give the mural more of a 3 dimension feeling. And for the surface, since this is a mural, Michelangelo used cartoons to transfer the painting on to the wet plaster ceiling. This work is legendary and usually mentioned in the same discussion with works like Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and The Last supper, So naturally it inspires awe in people and people get really emotional. 

Medici Family influence

A lot of Michelangelo's work was done under the Medici family Popes, since most of Michelangelo's life it was the Medici family that were the rulers in Italy. However the Sistine Chapel mural was actually not commissioned by the Medici Popes, but Pope Julius II.

                         Sistine chapel ceiling mural created by Michelangelo

Sources used: 

Smithers, D. T., & Smithers, D. T. (n.d.). Who was Michelangelo? Smarthistory. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://smarthistory.org/who-was-michelangelo/ 

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, September 27). Sistine Chapel ceiling. Wikipedia. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel_ceiling 

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Michelangelo. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michelangelo .


 




 



 

 

 
 

 

Comments

  1. Ava Ler30 September 2021 at 19:33

    Although, like you said it may be typical for a religious work of art, I think it is kind of fun that God is depicted as an older gentleman. Most the stuff we see, either God isn't in the picture or he is pictured as Jesus. The depiction in the work (to me) gives it more of the creator sense. If God was depicted young It would be harder for me to understand what the connection was.
    Thank you for sharing more about the process. It is interesting that he transferred the painting, I didn't know that.
    One question I can't help but ask is, how long did that take?! I tried to find out but there wasn't a definite answer, somewhere between 4 days and ~4 years. :/
    If you happen to know I'd appreciate hearing about it!

    Best, Ava

    ReplyDelete
  2. Filip Fornåå Svensson4 October 2021 at 11:41

    Hello Roberts,

    What a great explanation about the light colors used to provide positivity in the art. I do not know if it was on purpose from Michelangelo but I also get the sense that it brings me a happier and more positive outlook on the art. That is my first impression and also the biggest reason to why it appeals me. I also liked your explanation about how Michelangelo used different shades at different parts of the painting to express different things or dimensions.

    It is one of the biggest and most famous art pieces from the Italian Renaissance and it had a connection to the Medici Family as you said. I also believe that you can connect the Creation of Adam to humanism through its questioning of the creation of the man.

    I would gladly own a piece of this art work because I feel like it is more positive on the first impression that I got. I saw that you commented on my post about Michelangelo's The Pieta and that I explained that I did not want to own that art work. This would be a better fit for me and I am glad I got the chance to read this.

    ReplyDelete

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