ADAM AND EVE by Michelangelo

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September 28, 2012 by Art Blogger

ADAM AND EVE

Michelangelo, 1475-1564 The Creation of Eve, 1510

Fresco, 170x260cm

Sistine Chapel, Vatican, Rome

 

 

 

Then the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman

And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.’ Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said:

‘This is now bone of my bones

And flesh of my flesh;

She shall be called Woman,

Because she was taken out of Man.’

 

Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. / GENESIS 2:18-25

 

 

 

THE SECOND EVE

The Sistine Chapel is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The mother of Christ was regarded as the ‘second Eve’, whose advent absolved the world of original sin, the legacy of the Old Testament Eve. For that reason the scene is in the centre of the nine episodes painted on the chapel ceiling.

 

 

 

 

 

Michelangelo included non-biblical imagery in his iconic Creation of Adam, where he shows God’s hand reaching out to touch the reclining Adam as a sign of his creation. The Creation of Eve, which was painted before its counterpart, is more faithful to the biblical text. The fresco in the Sistine Chapel incorporates images from woodcuts published in a popular Italian Bible translation of 1493, which would have made the scene more easily recognizable to the public. The barren landscape in the background was supposed to represent the lush Garden of Eden. A consummate master of the human form, Michelangelo looked down on landscape painting, which he considered artistically and intellectually irrelevant and the province of Northern artists.

 

 

 

Michelangelo – like many other artists – depicted God as a venerable old man with a flowing beard.

He wears a purple robe and appears to be encouraging Eve to rise. This was Michelangelo’s first “representation of the Creator.