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Secondary sourcePainting1772

The Creation of Adam

Domenico Cunego · 1772

An 18th-century engraving by Domenico Cunego reproducing Michelangelo's famous Sistine Chapel ceiling scene of God giving life to Adam.

A later engraved copy of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel fresco, showing how his work spread across Europe through reproductions.

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Black and white engraving of The Creation of Adam after Michelangelo. On the left, a nude man reclines on a grassy hillside, reaching his left arm toward the right. On the right, a bearded older man with flowing robes is surrounded by a cloud-filled cloak and several figures, reaching toward Adam with his right arm. Latin caption below reads Formavit Dominus Deus hominem de limo terrae.
Domenico Cunego, The Creation of Adam, 1772, after Michelangelo. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This black-and-white engraving by Domenico Cunego, made in 1772, reproduces one of the most famous scenes from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling fresco. It shows a nude man reclining and reaching toward a bearded, robed figure surrounded by clouds and attendant figures, with a Latin caption describing God forming man from the dust of the earth. It is held by the Wellcome Collection in London.

Why it matters

Michelangelo painted the original fresco on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, one of the most celebrated works of Renaissance art. Because the fresco could not travel, engravings like this one by Cunego let people across Europe who could never visit Rome see and study the composition. This copy shows how dependent later audiences were on reproductions to know Michelangelo's work.

Look closer

  • What details might change or be lost when a painted fresco is turned into a black-and-white engraving?
  • Why do you think Cunego chose to copy this particular scene?
  • What does the Latin caption add to how the image should be understood?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Michelangelo Buonarroti on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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