名畫---the creation of adam

《創造亞當》(1511)是《創世紀》中最精彩的一幅。

創世紀是米開朗基羅在西斯廷教堂大廳天頂的中央部分按建築框邊畫的連續9幅宗教題材的壁畫。

這幅巨型壁畫創作於1508年5月至1512年10月期間，歷時長達4年多。畫面面積達14x38.5平方米，畫題均取材於《聖經》的開頭部分中，有關開天闢地直到洪水方舟的故事。分別為《神分光暗》，《創造日、月、草木》，《神分水陸》，《創造亞當》，《創造夏娃》，《原罪－逐出伊甸園》，《諾亞獻祭》，《大洪水》，《諾亞醉酒》。畫面由以上9幅中心畫面和眾多裝飾畫部組成，共繪有343個人物。

在《創世紀》誕生之前，歷來教堂穹頂畫多為簡單的日月星辰的圖案，如此龐大複雜的穹頂畫，可稱得上空前絕後。最開始的任務只是要求米開朗基羅在穹頂上繪製12個人物，但是《創世紀》完成的時候畫面上人物多達三百餘人。

米開朗基羅「創造亞當」的構思極富想像力，它以亞當的軀體為中心。
他悠閒地斜靠著，伸手去接觸那賜予生命的上帝。

亞當的左手似即將移動，滿有被控制住的感覺，而上帝則上前伸出右手食指，這兩隻手是整個創世紀的象徵。

造物主周圍的11位天使圍成一個由飄飛的披風組成的渦旋狀， 形成支撐和冠冕的感覺。

亞當倦怠身姿的曲線與造物主和天使用圍的渦旋形線相呼應。

畫面的焦點是神與人指頭的接觸，它並不畫在正中，而是稍微偏左。

作品強調人體動作，兩人之間的聯繫具有動感。 這聯繫點在亞當所處地面的斜線和渦旋形線中間，張力之強似快要目睹指尖接觸時迸發的火花。

2006-11-18 12:42:18 補充：
補充關於技巧一項《創造亞當》280x570公分 濕壁畫，拱頂裝飾畫濕壁畫就是將水溶顏料塗在剛清潔乾淨的濕灰泥牆壁作畫。把磨好的乾粉顏料溶入清水而製得的色彩，一旦與灰泥乾燥凝固後，可以成為牆壁的永久部分。由於濕壁畫耐久且表面不會反光，遂成為製作壁畫的理想方法。這種技術有別於在乾的灰泥上作畫的清壁畫或乾壁畫。義大利文藝復興是最偉大的濕壁畫時期，而米開朗基羅這幅在西斯汀禮拜堂的濕壁畫是最著名的。到了18世紀，濕壁畫已經大致被油畫取代。...............................

2006-11-18 12:44:00 補充：
繪製工作是從最尾場景諾亞故事開始的，從入口門楣上方向祭壇推進，繪製方向正與故事發展順序相反。由於米開朗基羅初時不熟悉以濕壁畫這材料著手如此恢宏的作品，早期工作會預先畫出完整的素描草圖和做石膏小稿。因此最初的人物形象較呆板，所畫場面也較小。隨著繪製的進展，他的信心逐漸增強。事實上，近年對他所用技法的研究顯示︰他畫得越來越快，日漸大膽的想法可見於人物形象自由而複雜的動作以及豐富的表情。米開朗基羅在西斯汀教堂天花板上，連續工作四年，當這一紀念碑式的天頂壁畫完成時，37歲的米開朗基羅由於長期躺在18米高的腳手架上，弓著腰、仰著脖子作畫，使他失去了健康，身體變得畸形。..

2006-11-18 12:53:37 補充：
關於創作意念, 有人有此看法.....1990，一位名叫梅什伯格的美國醫生指出《創世紀》主題之一《創造亞當》中，上帝和周圍的天使組合在一起，與人類大腦的橫切面類似。他相信米開朗基羅是把上帝賦予亞當靈魂，與賜予人類智慧相提並論。..

Composition

God is depicted as a bearded old man wrapped in a swirling cloak that he shares with some cherubim. His left arm is wrapped around a female figure, normally interpreted as Eve, who is not yet created and, figuratively, waits in heaven to be given an earthly form. God's right arm is outstretched to impart the spark of life from his own finger into that of Adam, whose left arm is extended in a pose mirroring God's. Famously, Adam's finger and God's finger are separated by a slight distance.

The composition is obviously artistic and not literal, as Adam is capable of reaching out to God even before he has actually been given "life." For this same reason, Eve is visually depicted prior to her own creation, although this has led a few people to believe the female figure must be Adam's mythical first wife, Lilith; however, this interpretation makes no more literal sense since Lilith was also created after Adam.

The similar poses of God and Adam – the positions of God's right leg and Adam's left are, for instance, nearly identical – reflect the fact that, according to Genesis 1:27, God created man in His own image. At the same time God, who is airborne and appears against ovoid drapery, is contrasted with earthbound Adam, lying on a stable triangle of barren ground (Adam's name comes from a Hebrew word meaning "earth").

The inspiration for Michelangelo's treatment of the subject may come from a medieval hymn called Veni, Creator Spiritus, which asks the 'finger of the paternal right hand' (digitus paternae dexterae) to give the faithful speech, love and strength. [1]

Adam's index finger, the most famous in Western art alongside God's, is in fact not the work of Michelangelo. It was damaged beyond repair by a crack that appeared in the ceiling in the mid-16th century and was repainted by a papal restorer.


Anatomical theories

Several hypotheses have been put forward about the meaning of The Creation of Adam's highly original composition, many of them taking Michelangelo's well-documented expertise in human anatomy as their starting point. In 1990 a physician named Frank Lynn Meshberger noted in the medical publication the Journal of the American Medical Association that the background figures and shapes portrayed behind the figure of God appeared to be an anatomically accurate picture of the human brain, including the frontal lobe, optic chiasm, brain stem, pituitary gland, and the major sulci of the cerebrum. Alternatively, it has been observed that the red cloth around God has the shape of a human uterus (one art historian has called it a "uterine mantle"), and that the scarf hanging out, coloured green, could be the just cut umbilical cord.