Description
The Creation of Adam is the most famous scene on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo in 1511: God, white-bearded and carried in a red mantle full of companions, stretches his forefinger towards Adam, who lies on a green slope and slowly lifts his hand to meet him. The original is a fresco, painted into fresh plaster on the vaulted ceiling some 20 metres above the floor. Our painter paints it for you by hand on canvas, in oil or acrylic, in 4 landscape sizes from 160 x 75 to 240 x 110 cm or made to measure, and we send you a photograph of your finished painting before dispatch.
| Title: | The Creation of Adam |
| Other titles: | La creazione di Adamo · The Creation of Man |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) |
| Year painted: | 1511 |
| Original size: | about 280 cm x 570 cm (height x width) |
| Original technique: | Fresco |
| Painting style: | High Renaissance |
| Located at: | Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museums, Vatican City |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, 4 sizes or made to measure |
The Creation of Adam – Michelangelo
What does The Creation of Adam show?
The scene falls into two halves. On the left, on a green-brown slope under a pale sky, lies Adam, the first man, nude and young. He props himself on one elbow, his left arm stretched over his raised knee towards God, and his hand hangs loose, as if there were no strength in it yet.
From the right comes God, an old man with white hair and beard in a pale pink tunic. A group of nude child and youthful figures carries him, and a billowing red-violet mantle wraps around them all, like a shell or a cloud. A green scarf trails beneath. With his right arm God reaches across the sky and points his forefinger straight at Adam’s finger.
The middle is almost empty: only bright sky and two fingers that nearly touch. That small gap has become the best-known part of the fresco. In the far corners you can see bits of the painted frame, which on the ceiling belongs to the painted architecture around the scene.
What story does the scene tell?
It follows the Book of Genesis, which tells how God made the first man. Older depictions usually showed God still, seated on a throne; Michelangelo sets him in flight, his whole body in motion.
Adam has already been created but is still inert, so he lies motionless and waits. His arm mirrors God’s gesture, a reminder of the verse in Genesis in which God makes humankind in his own likeness.
Who the figures around God are is not certain. The English critic Walter Pater proposed that the woman under God’s left arm is Eve, and that the others are the souls of their descendants; many scholars accept this reading today, though not all. The next scene on the ceiling is The Creation of Eve, in which Eve rises beside the sleeping Adam.
Why is The Creation of Adam so famous?
English Wikipedia counts it among the most replicated religious paintings of all time, copied and parodied countless times.
Giorgio Vasari wrote that Adam is so beautiful he seems to have been shaped by his Creator himself rather than by the hand of a mortal painter. Walter Pater later stressed how little is needed: “a touch of the finger-tips will suffice”, he wrote.
In 1990 the American physician Frank Meshberger suggested that the shape behind God resembles a cross-section of the human brain; it is an intriguing reading, not a proven fact. The Wikipedia article on The Creation of Adam, in English, covers this fresco and these readings.
Where is the original, and when was it painted?
Today the fresco can be seen on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, within the Vatican Museums. Michelangelo painted the ceiling from 1508 to 1512 for Pope Julius II, and this scene dates from 1511.
He began at the west end of the chapel and worked towards the altar. After the first two phases he took down the scaffolding and moved it to the other side, and only then painted The Creation of Adam.
In the sequence of nine Genesis scenes it is the fourth in the order of the story. The field measures about 280 x 570 cm. The British Museum in London holds Michelangelo’s preparatory red-chalk drawing of Adam’s torso, for which a male model posed.
The Creation of Adam or another Michelangelo?
The Creation of Adam is a canvas painting for people who want a single clear moment on the wall: two hands and the space between them.
If the beginning of the world appeals to you, the same ceiling gives you The Creation of the Sun and Moon and The Separation of Light from Darkness. For a narrower, taller wall, The Delphic Sibyl suits better.
Browse the other famous Michelangelo paintings we offer, each painted to order, on our Michelangelo page.
How do we paint a fresco on canvas?
Let us say it plainly: Michelangelo’s original is a fresco, painted into damp plaster on the ceiling. Ours is the oil painting reproduction buyers look for, painted by hand on canvas in oil or acrylic depending on the project, layer by layer.
He first draws in the two main figures and the length of the arms, because the gap between the fingers has to stay as tight as on the ceiling. Then he lays in the pale sky and the slope, and finally builds up the bodies: Adam’s skin in warm ochres, God’s tunic in pale pink and the mantle in a deep red-violet.
Fine brush marks stay on the surface and show when light falls across it from the side.
Which size fits which wall?
In short: 160 x 75 cm above a sofa or a chest of drawers, 180 x 85 cm above a wide bed or a dining table, 200 x 97 cm above a large corner sofa, and 240 x 110 cm for a long wall in a living area, a hallway or an office.
We paint the scene in 4 landscape sizes (width x height): 160 x 75, 180 x 85, 200 x 97 and 240 x 110 cm. All keep the proportions of the long, low field on the ceiling, so both figures and the space between them stay where they belong. The fresco itself measures about 280 x 570 cm on the ceiling; our largest size is 240 x 110 cm.
As a painting for the living room it works best above a long sofa or a low sideboard. Hang the lower edge 20 to 30 cm above the backrest, and choose a width of about two thirds of the furniture below it.
Can I have a different size or a frame?
Yes. If you need another width or height, we adapt the composition so that Adam, God and both fingers stay whole. Tell us the size you have in mind and we will reply with a price and a delivery time.
The painting travels to you rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or already framed. Our workshop in Slovenia does the stretching and framing and prepares every painting we send for the journey. The 3D app on our site is for picking the moulding only; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A darker gold moulding or a walnut frame suits the warm bodies and the red mantle.
When will the painting arrive?
The painter starts once you confirm your order, and The Creation of Adam is ready to ship within 15 to 45 working days. Before packing, we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like a change, we make it.
No customs duties apply in Slovenia or anywhere else in the EU, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
It makes a lovely gift for a wedding or a new home. Unsure about the wall? A wall art voucher lets the recipient decide.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the original fresco?
On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, during a visit to the Vatican Museums.
What do the almost touching fingers mean?
God passes the spark of life to Adam; some scholars also read the gap as the distance between humanity and God.
Will I receive a print?
No. You receive a hand-painted copy, made by our painter with a brush on canvas, in oil or acrylic.
How large is the scene on the ceiling?
About 280 x 570 cm, far larger than our biggest size, which measures 240 x 110 cm.
Could you paint Adam in a size you do not list?
Yes. Send us the width and height of your wall, and we will prepare an offer with a price and a date.
How long will I wait for my painting?
Between 15 and 45 working days; before dispatch we also send you a photograph of the finished work.
Does The Creation of Adam suit a bedroom or make a good gift?
Yes. Above a bed it feels calm, and as a gift it suits a wedding or a move into a new home.
Who is the woman under God’s arm?
She is often read as Eve, waiting for her own creation, but that is not the only possible reading.
- Subject: God in a red mantle reaches his forefinger towards the nude Adam on a slope; their fingers almost touch.
- Original: a fresco of 1511 on the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican, about 280 x 570 cm.
- Ours: a Michelangelo reproduction painted by hand in oil or acrylic on canvas, 4 landscape sizes from 160 x 75 to 240 x 110 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: painted in 1511, after Michelangelo had moved the scaffolding; Vasari felt Adam looked as if his Creator had made him directly.
