Michelangelo Buonarroti’s Creation of Adam and Lucas Cranach’s Paradise are famous works painted in approximately the same time. Still both of them are very original and significant for the history of Art. Comparing these two famous artworks will be central for this essay.
Painting of the creation of Adam belongs to an Italian painter Michelangelo Buonarroti. It was carried out as a part of a series of ceiling frescos for the Sistine Chapel in Vatican, Rome. It was completed in 1510-1512 and its sizes are 280x570 cm. The painting illustrates a famous scene from the Bible, the book of Genesis. The work symbolizes a man who is created in the image of God. Also the image of nearly touched hands of God and Adam has become a sign of humanity. Artists claim that “the non-quite meeting of hands” in this picture is “the most famous detail in Western art and contribute various interpretations. Michael Salcman investigates Buonarroti’s life and informs that he put in the picture his interpretation of Platonic philosophy and used the brain as “the divine gift that makes us truly human”. At the same time it is not a hand-shake which suggests that God and Adam are not on the same level. What is the most fascinating in this painting is the beauty of a naked body: while God is dressed, Adam stays completely nude.
Lucas Granach’s artwork called “Paradise” is dated the beginning of the 16th century, a year 1536 and localized to Germany. It belongs to religious writings genre and fits the style of Northern Renaissance. The painting has been done with a panel by oil and its original dimensions are 81 x 114 cm. This work, in contrast to “The creation of Adam”, is not as colorful but full with many little details. For instance, besides of people it includes animals and the patterns of nature. Adam and Eve are pictured in the paradise in action - just about to eat an apple. The bodies are also naked and the animals are surrounded around the tree. This adds some dynamic to the drawing and looking into the details of the picture I firstly noticed not the act of picking up an apple, but a fullness of the place.
Identifying the similarities and differences between the two works I can say that both of the pictures are composed on a basis of a Biblical narrative. But interpreting these paintings suggests that they have very different messages inside. Buonarroti’s work first of all shows the act of creation while Cranach’s is concentrated on the act preceding the exile of the paradise. Cranach’s work was very likely inspired by Martin Luther, whom he knew well and the Protestant Revolution, while Buonarroti’s painting was rather aimed to show the humanity of a person and the connection with the Creator.
Works Cited
- Tom Lubbock, Buonarroti, Michelangelo: The Creation of Adam (1510). The Independent's Great Art series (5 January 2007). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/great-works/buonarroti-michelangelo-the-creation-of-adam-1510-744396.html
- Michael Salcman, The creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Neurosyrgery, Volume 59(6), December 2006, N11–N12. http://www.nslc.wustl.edu/courses/bio3411/woolsey/2011/Salcman%202006A.pdf
