Famous Art for the Pandemic – & Celebrations of Life

Update 03 July 2025: This post was initially published during the 2020/2021 COVID pandemic. As an art history professor, world traveler and lover of great art and art museums, I set out to connect famous art with what was going on in the world around us. First posted on Face Book, it moved into the creation of this website. Click here for additional postings on a Year in the Life of the Pandemic.

“Creation of Adam”

Michelangelo, Italian, High Renaissance, 1508-1512

Who better to honor on Father’s Day, then our heavenly Father, Father of us all.  And what better image than Michelangelo’s creation of Adam (also father of us all) on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

This huge fresco (9’2” x 18’8”), where life leaps like a spark from God to Adam, is just a part of his magnificent, majestic, and memorable Sistine masterpiece.

His work covers the whole ceiling (128’ x 45’) and is almost 70’ above the floor which challenged the artist causing him to build his own scaffolding and having to mostly paint over his head.   Michelangelo was a sculptor at heart and even his paintings look as if they are 3-dimensional and could just step off the surface. The Sistine Chapel is a must-see on any trip to Rome even if one has to be intentional to actually concentrate of the artwork and block out the inevitable crowds. 

TRAVEL TIP: Personal photos are forbidden due to copyright issues with the Japanese company that restored the chapel’s paintings in the 1990’s, but that does not stop people from trying—and guards from shouting out “NO PICTURES” in umpteen languages! 

MOVIE MATCH: “The Agony & The Ecstasy” – For a great movie on the painting of the Sistine Ceiling and the battle of the wills between Michelangelo (Charlton Heston) and Pope Julius II (Rex Harrison) in the creation of this masterpiece and a glimpse at the Italian High Renaissance, I highly recommend The Agony and The Ecstasy (1965).  Although it is 55 years old, it is a timeless movie masterpiece and one of my all-time favorites. See my discussion on this film in separate blog “Film: Agony & Ecstasy“

Enjoy this post and/or this art? Let me know with a simple click on the “LIKE” button below! Encouraging comments are also always welcome. Thanks! ~Cher

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