The Creation of Adam

Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1508. Michelangelo, who considered himself primarily a sculptor and initially resisted the commission, spent four years lying on scaffolding high above the chapel floor, completing a program of nine scenes from Genesis flanked by prophets, sibyls, and hundreds of figures. The Creation of Adam is the fourth scene, placed at the centre of the ceiling.

The composition broke profoundly with tradition. Earlier depictions of the creation showed God touching Adam, or breathing into his nostrils. Michelangelo depicted the transmission of life as an almost-electric charge across a gap — God leaning forward with urgent purpose while the limp Adam raises his arm with effortful weakness. This gap between the fingers has become one of the most reproduced and analysed details in the history of art.