ARTH 1111: Image Annotation 3

Selected Work: The Creation of Adam. Michelangelo. 1512. Fresco. The Creation of Adam, completed by Michelangelo in 1512 is one of the most iconic frescos featured in the Sistine Chapel. This painting is revered for its intense anatomical accuracy, which is achieved in both (highly idealized) figures. This image depicts the moment that God gives life to Adam, as described in the Book of Genesis. God--depicted on the left is shown as an older man with white hair and a beard wearing a cloak and surrounded by angels--reaches towards Adam--a muscular figure reclining on Earth--who reaches back toward God. As they reach, however, their outstretched hands never actually touch each other, though this interaction is understood to symbolize the initial spark of life. Even more, God appears to be settled within a brain-shaped composition of figures, working to link the divine creation with human consciousness.

Referenced Text: Andrea L. Bolland, “Desiderio and Diletto: vision, touch, and the poetics of Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne,” The Art Bulletin, vol. 82 (2000): 309-330. In her, “Desiderio and Diletto: vision, touch, and the poetics of Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne,” Andrea Bolland explores the relationship between vision and touch, drawing a focus on related themes of desire and sensuality. She does this by focusing on Bernini's sculpture Apollo and Daphne, which depicts the story from Greek mythology in which Apollo had been struck by one of Cupid's golden arrows, leading him to become madly in love with Daphne, a beautiful river nymph. As such, Apollo attempts to pursue Daphne, who flees from him out of her promise to remain eternally unmarried. However, Apollo continues to chase her and upon his near success, she begins to transform into a Laurel tree, with her skin turning to bark, hair turning to leaves, etc. Bernini's sculptural recreation of this allegory highlights the failure of touch to satisfy Apollo's desires; as he is seen reaching for her flesh, he is truly only able to feel the bark of the tree. Bolland explains, "Sight kindles in Apollo a desire that it alone ultimately cannot satisfy, and when the desire is finally rewarded through touch, the object obtained is no longer the same as that which was desired" (Bolland 313). Here, she explains the tension that emerges as a result of Apollo being able to see--and, as a result, desire--something, but never being able to truly touch it. There is a similar tension created by Michelangelo in his The Creation of Adam, particularly because, while extremely close, God and Adam are never actually depicted as touching in this critical moment in Biblical history. In theory, such a touch denotes the moment that God imparts life to Adam, divinely infusing spirit and consciousness into human form. However, such contact is never explicitly shown by the artist; even though viewers can desire to see this moment of divine creation and imagine what such a scene would look like, it will never be attained in this context due to that lack of touch. Even more, like with the transformation of Daphne upon Apollo's touch. The Creation of Adam also deals with a sort of transformation upon contact. However, while Michelangelo's fresco references the creation of humanity itself, Bernini's sculpture represents a metamorphosis of unrequited desire. While, in Apollo and Daphne, touch is made impossible by transformation, The Creation of Adam demonstrates a scene in which transformation is impossible without touch.

Referenced Text: Sharon Assaf, “The Ambivalence of the Sense of Touch in Early Modern Prints," Renaissance and Reformation, vol. 29 (2005): 75-98 In her "The Ambivalence of the Sense of Touch in Early Modern Prints," Assaf explores the symbolism and moral interpretations of the sense of touch in art, especially in prints. She discusses the way in which in the 16th century cultural context, touch was often seen as having sensual connectivities, possibly leading individuals towards lust--a key vice. She uses two key examples to demonstrate this concept: 1. Badius' Ship of Fools: In this work, Badius depicts the characters as engaging in debauchery, ultimately utilizing the sense of touch to indicate foolishness and moral weakness. 2. Pencz's Touch: Here, Pencz depicts a modest-looking woman diligently working at a loom, a scene characteristic of praised Protestant virtues. The selection of the hand to portray such virtues, however, is particularly, as it works to demonstrate its two-pronged power, which carries the ability to either (a) elevate one's self through virtuous work or (2) tempt one toward vice through ideas of sensuality. Even more, she highlights a broader societal distrust toward the sense of vice, explaining that "The iconography of the sense of touch has been related to images of luxuria, lust, sexual abandonment, and the wantonness of women, leading to the overall view in modern scholarship that in the sixteenth century this sense was visualized as dangerous and corrupting" (Assaf 78). This directly contradicts, however, the scene in The Creation of Adam, which also emerged in the sixteenth century. Even more, in this painting, the idea of touch, occurring between God and Adam, is associated with one of the most sacred events in biblical history--the creation of man. Without this touch, such a divine-human connection that propelled the creation of humanity would not have been possible. In this sense, touch can be perceived as a mechanism for the highest of virtues, essentially granting man life, vitality, and divine empowerment.