Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Creation of Adam

It seems to be an unspoken fact that the majority of artists are not fully appreciated until after they die. In the past it was even more difficult for recognition to be gained. Without modern tools like the internet, the television, or even the radio it takes a massive wave of popularity for word-of-mouth to spread the way Michelangelo’s did. His entire life was devoted to art in different forms. He was the great Italian poet of the 16th century. His sculptures and statues are among the most famous in the world. But when it came time to pick my favorite painting, I had to go with his most powerful work, his Creation of Adam.

Underneath this painting I can see the artist’s true soul; his ingrained faith in the Lord, his belief in the inherent beauty of man, and the skill he both lived for and died with. No one can deny the spirituality coursing through the Sistine Chapel. Every painting was carefully painstakingly designed, placed and painted by Michelangelo. It must be a powerful experience to behold the sight of the chapel and it must have been thousands of times worse than that to be the soul chosen to paint it.

Before this painting stories of Michelangelo’s arrogance were neither few nor far between. The shallow and bitter rivalry he shared with Leonardo Da Vinci was hardly hidden and his works became merely a way for him to out perform his rival. So it was only natural that he would lunge at the opportunity to paint the Sistine Chapel. But it was there that he found himself swallowed by the Lord and, whether he meant to or not, created his most famous painting, Creation of Adam.

That particular piece stands out in Michelangelo’s list of works as a true turning point. He would say that a sculpture was already hidden in the granite and that he was simply liberating the statue from its prison so that he could show it to the world. Da Vinci would often be heard cursing Michelangelo as a...