Description
The Creation of Eve is the fresco Michelangelo completed in September 1510 at the very centre of the Sistine Chapel ceiling in the Vatican: Eve rises from the side of the sleeping Adam and turns, hands joined, to the Creator standing before her. The original is painted into fresh plaster on the vault, high above the chapel floor. One of our painters makes it for you by hand, in oils on canvas, in 5 landscape sizes from 56 x 40 to 90 x 66 cm or made to measure; before dispatch we send you a photograph of the finished painting.
| Title: | The Creation of Eve |
| Other titles: | La creazione di Eva · Die Erschaffung Evas |
| Painter: | Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) |
| Year painted: | 1510 |
| Original size: | about 170 cm x 260 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, 5 sizes or made to measure |
The Creation of Eve – Michelangelo
What does The Creation of Eve show?
Just three figures carry the scene. On the left lies Adam, nude and deeply asleep, his back propped against a dry, broken tree stump. His head has dropped onto his shoulder, one arm hangs limp to the ground, and a dark rock rises behind him.
In the middle Eve steps out from behind his body. She is nude as well: one knee still on the ground, her upper body leaning towards God. Long reddish-blonde hair falls down her back, her hands are joined as if in prayer and her lips are slightly parted.
On the right stands God, an old man with a long grey beard, wrapped in a heavy lilac-grey mantle that falls to his bare feet. He raises his right hand towards Eve. Behind them lie low green ground, a thin strip of grey-blue water and a pale sky.
What is the story behind it?
It comes from the opening chapters of Genesis. God casts Adam into a deep sleep and forms the woman from his side. Michelangelo paints the moment when Eve is already in the world and Adam does not yet know it.
Eve’s first gesture is towards her maker: she joins her hands as if praying or giving thanks. God makes no effort at all; he simply stands and lifts his hand. That stillness makes the scene easy to live with at home.
On the ceiling the field belongs to the central group of three Adam and Eve scenes. Next to it, towards the entrance, comes The Fall and Expulsion from Paradise, where the same two people reach for the forbidden fruit and must leave the garden.
Why does The Creation of Eve matter so much?
The field sits in the fifth bay of the vault, right at the centre of the ceiling. Michelangelo painted it next to the marble screen that divided the chapel, then stopped work so that the scaffolding could be moved to the other side. Only then could he see from below what he had done so far.
According to English Wikipedia, his figures grew ever larger after this and his handling ever broader. The Creation of Eve therefore marks the border between the earlier and the later part of the ceiling.
Its model is known too: Michelangelo took the composition almost entirely from Jacopo della Quercia’s stone reliefs around the main door of San Petronio in Bologna, which he had studied in his youth. The Wikipedia article on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, in English, covers the whole ceiling and discusses this scene in its section on Adam and Eve.
Where is the original, and how was it made?
You find the original overhead in the Sistine Chapel, on the route through the Vatican Museums. Michelangelo, who saw himself first of all as a sculptor, painted the ceiling from 1508 to 1512 for Pope Julius II.
The scene is a fresco: the colours bind with the wet plaster and harden with it. The field measures about 170 x 260 cm and is one of the smaller of the nine Genesis scenes. On the ceiling it is framed by four painted nude youths and two painted bronze medallions; our painting shows the scene alone.
The first half of the ceiling was shown on 14 and 15 August 1511, the whole of it on 31 October 1512. The restoration of 1980 to 1989 removed candle soot and old varnish and brought out brighter colours, though some critics say a secco details were lost.
The Creation of Eve or another Michelangelo scene?
The Creation of Eve is a canvas painting for people who like calm, clear scenes with few figures.
If you want more movement, look at The Separation of the Earth and Waters, where God flies straight at the viewer with his arms spread wide. The opposite pole is the crowd fleeing the water in The Deluge.
From the Noah stories we also paint The Drunkenness of Noah, the first scene Michelangelo painted on the ceiling. All the famous Michelangelo paintings we offer are collected on our Michelangelo page.
How does a fresco become a painting on canvas?
To put it plainly: the original is a fresco in the plaster of the chapel ceiling, and ours is a hand-painted oil painting reproduction on canvas. The painter starts only once you order and builds the colour up layer by layer.
First he draws in the three figures and the long diagonal from Adam’s feet to God’s hand, so the proportions hold. Then he lays in the sky, the green ground and the strip of water, and models the bodies over them in warm, light skin tones.
A fresco has a dry, matt surface; oil gives the colours more depth and a soft sheen. With its gently modelled skin and light background the scene looks its best in daylight, and up close you can see the brushstrokes.
Which size works on which wall?
In short: 56 x 40 or 63 x 45 cm for a bedroom, a hallway or above a desk, 70 x 52 cm above a chest of drawers, and 80 x 59 or 90 x 66 cm above a sofa or a bed.
We paint the scene in 5 landscape sizes (width x height): 56 x 40, 63 x 45, 70 x 52, 80 x 59 and 90 x 66 cm. The fresco on the ceiling is far larger, about 260 cm wide and 170 cm high; our largest size is 90 x 66 cm, so every version we paint is a reduction.
With only three large figures, the scene stays readable even in the smallest size. As a painting for the living room it is strongest at 90 x 66 cm above the sofa, with the lower edge about 25 cm above the backrest.
Can I order another size or a frame?
Yes. If your wall calls for a different proportion, we adapt the composition so that Adam, Eve and God stay whole on the canvas. Tell us the size you have in mind and we will reply with a price and a date.
The painting leaves rolled, stretched on a stretcher bar or framed. Stretching and framing are done by our workshop in Slovenia, which prepares every one of our paintings for the journey. You choose the moulding in our 3D app, which is meant only for picking the frame; a view of the painting on your own wall is a separate service.
A patinated gold moulding or dark walnut suits the lilac mantle and the warm skin tones.
When will it arrive, and how is it shipped?
The Creation of Eve is ready to ship 15 to 45 working days after you confirm your order. Before we pack it we send you a photograph of the finished painting, and if you would like something changed, the painter does it.
Within Slovenia and to the rest of the EU it travels free of customs duties, and every order is covered by our returns policy.
As a gift it suits a wedding, a couple’s first home or anyone who has stood beneath the Sistine ceiling. If you are unsure of the size, give a wall art voucher and let the recipient decide.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I see the fresco?
In the Vatican, on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which is part of the Vatican Museums tour.
Who are the three figures?
Adam sleeps on the left, Eve rises in the middle, and God stands on the right in a lilac mantle.
Will I receive a print?
No. You receive a hand-painted copy, made stroke by stroke in oil paint.
How large is the fresco on the ceiling?
About 170 cm high and 260 cm wide, larger than any of our sizes.
Do you paint sizes that are not listed?
Gladly. Tell us the width and height your wall needs, and we will quote a price and a date for this scene.
How long will I wait for my painting?
15 to 45 working days; the photograph of the finished painting reaches you before dispatch.
Is it suitable for a bedroom?
Yes, the calm scene with few figures sits well above a bed or a chest of drawers.
Why are Eve’s hands joined?
It is her first gesture towards the Creator, a sign of prayer or gratitude.
- Subject: God calls Eve out of the side of the sleeping Adam; she turns to him with her hands joined.
- Original: fresco, 1510, central field of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican; about 170 x 260 cm.
- Ours: a Michelangelo reproduction painted by hand in oils on canvas, 5 landscape sizes from 56 x 40 to 90 x 66 cm, or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: the composition follows Jacopo della Quercia’s reliefs in Bologna; after this scene Michelangelo had the scaffolding moved.
