Creation of Adam, The

Fresco (Sistine Chapel ceiling, Vatican) by Michelangelo (1511), showing God reaching out to the earthbound Adam who, though painted as the ultimate in male beauty and form, is lifeless, lacking divine energy. The composition represented not only the culmination of Michelangelo's artistic achievement but also the flowering of all that had been learnt in art, especially as regards anatomy, during the early Renaissance period. The recent restoration of the ceiling has been the subject of some controversy.