Michelangelo's creation of Adam.

• God


  • Presented as a dynamic and active figure
  • Shown as older than Adam, with grey hair and a beard
  • Has a muscular physique
  • Shown on a cloud surrounded by angels
  • Symbolises giving Adam the spark of life
  • Highlights that God is omnipotent (all-powerful)
  • Highlights that God is omniscient (all-knowing)
  • Highlights that God is a creator as revealed in the book of Genesis
  • Highlights that God is transcendent
• God is hard at work at His greatest creation
• Adam is a more passive figure
• Symbols of God

  • Hand stretching out
  • Cloud
  • Angels
• Cloud surrounding God

  Highlights that God is transcendent
• Cloud surrounding God


  Some people believe it represents a brain highlighting omniscience
• Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam:

  Beliefs about Humans

  Adam is on the left of the painting, lying back on the earth from which he has been formed as described in Genesis. This links to the idea of stewardship

  as humans have been created to protect and preserve the environment for future generations. Adam is a perfect human being; young, handsome, strong

  and resembles God. Adam mirrors the pose of God. This is linked to the belief of the imago dei which comes from the book of Genesis and the teachings

  of Catherine of Siena.