Arcadópolis
The Creation of the Sun and Moon
Michelangelo, c. 1511
What you see
On the right, God surges toward us with arms spread wide: his right hand points to the Sun, a large orange disc, and his left to the Moon, gray and cut off by the edge. Small figures shelter beneath his cloak. On the left, another figure in a pink cloak flies away from us, showing only his back and the soles of his feet. The eye moves from the forceful gesture to the Sun.
Deep pink cloaks dominate a pale sky. The Sun is painted in circular strokes that seem to spin. Notice the furrowed brow and windswept beard of the figure on the right, the small green bush in the lower left corner and, along the bottom edge, fragments of other figures.
About Michelangelo
Michelangelo Buonarroti saw himself above all as a sculptor, but the pope asked him to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. He worked for four years on scaffolding, painting hundreds of giant figures above his head. He was also an architect and a poet, and lived to be almost 89.
More by Michelangelo
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