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FRANK LYNN MESHBERGER,
MD AND TONY B. RICH
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FAN INTERPRETATION OF
MICHELANGELO'S CREATION
OF ADAM BASED ON
NEUROANATOMY AND THE USE
OF SYMBOL AS A METAPHOR
OF MEANING
The Creation of Adam
(1508-1512) on the
ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel has long been
recognized as one of the
world's great art
treasures. In 1990 Frank
Lynn Meshberger, M.D.
described what millions
had overlooked for
centuries — an
anatomically accurate
image of the human brain
was portrayed behind
God. On close
examination, borders in
the painting correlate
with sulci in the inner
and outer surface of the
brain, the brain stem,
the basilar artery, the
pituitary gland and the
optic chiasm. God's hand
does not touch Adam, yet
Adam is already alive as
if the spark of life is
being transmitted across
a synaptic cleft. Below
the right arm of God is
a sad angel in an area
of the brain that is
sometimes activated on
PET scans when someone
experiences a sad
thought. God is
superimposed over the
limbic system, the
emotional center of the
brain and possibly the
anatomical counterpart
of the human soul. God's
right arm extends to the
prefrontal cortex, the
most creative and most
uniquely human region of
the brain.
The brilliant Italian
Renaissance artist
Michelangelo Buonarroti
painted magnificent
frescoes on the ceiling
of the Vatican's Sistine
Chapel, laboring from
1508 to 1512.
Commissioned by Pope
Julius II, Michelangelo
performed this work
himself without
assistance. Scholars
debate whether he had
any guidance from the
Church in the selection
of the scenes, and what
meaning the scenes were
to convey. In the fresco
traditionally called the
Creation of Adam, but
which might be more
aptly titled the
Endowment of Adam, I
believe that
Michelangelo encoded a
special message. It is a
message consistent with
thoughts he expressed in
his sonnets. Supreme in
sculpture and painting,
he understood that his
skill was in his brain
and not in his hands. He
believed that the
"divine part" we
"receive" from God is
the "intellect". In the
following sonnet,
Michelangelo explains
how he creates sculpture
and painting and how, I
believe, God himself
gave man the gift of
intellect1:
After the divine part
has well
conceived
Man's face and gesture,
soon both
mind and hand,
With a cheap model,
first, at their
command,
Give life to stone, but
this is not
achieved
By skill. In painting,
too, this is
perceived:
Only after the intellect
has planned
The best and highest,
can the ready
hand
Take up the brush and
try all things
received.
The sculpture and
painting of Michelangelo
reflect the great
knowledge of anatomy
that he acquired by
performing dissections
of the human body. His
experience in dissection
is documented in Lives
of the Artists, written
by his contemporary,
Georgio Vasari2. Vasari
says, "For the church of
Santo Spirito in
Florence Michelangelo
made a crucifix of wood
which was placed above
the lunette of the high
altar, where it still
is. He made this to
please the prior, who
placed rooms at his
disposal where
Michelangelo very often
used to flay dead bodies
in order to discover the
secrets of anatomy . .
."
The Creation of Adam
fresco shows Adam and
God reaching toward one
another, arms
outstretched, fingers
almost touching. One can
imagine the spark of
life jumping from God to
Adam across that synapse
between their
fingertips. However,
Adam is already alive,
his eyes are open, and
he is completely formed;
but it is the intent of
the picture that Adam is
to "receive" something
from God. I believe
there is a third "main
character" in the fresco
that has not previously
been recognized. I would
like to show this by
looking at four
tracings, Figures 1
through 4, and by
reviewing gross
neuroanatomy, using
works by Frank Netter,
MD, illustrator of The
CIBA Collection of
Medical Illustrations,
Volume I — The Nervous
System.
Examine Figures 1 and 2
to see if there is any
similarity between them.
Examine Figures 3 and 4
and decide if these
figures are similar or
dissimilar. Take enough
time inspecting the
figures so that your
mind may form its own
image of them.
Proceeding to the
neuroanatomy, Figure 5
shows a saggital section
of the skull; the brain,
which lies in the
cranium, takes its shape
from it. Study the
picture to gain an
overall impression of
the shape of the
cranium. Figure 6 shows
the left lateral aspect
of the brain and
illustrates the sulci
and gyri that are
present in the
hemispheres. The fissure
of Silvius, or lateral
cerebral fissure,
separates the frontal
lobe from the temporal
lobe. Figure 1 is a
tracing of this
illustration.
Figure 7 depicts the
medial aspect of the
right hemisphere; Figure
8 is a tracing of the
brain and spinal cord
portion of this
illustration. The sulcus
cinguli separates the
gyrus cinguli from the
superior frontal gyrus
and paracentral gyrus.
The parietal lobe is
divided into the cuneus
and lingular gyrus. The
pituitary gland is seen
lying in the pituitary
fossa; the fact that the
pituitary is bilobed can
be seen grossly. The
pons, the bulbous upward
extension of the spinal
cord, is noted.
Immediately in front of
the pituitary gland is
the cross section of the
optic chiasm. Figure 3
is derived from Figure 8
by removing both the
cerebellum and the
midbrain structures
inferior to the gyrus
cinguli and rotating the
spinal cord posteriorly
from the standard
anatomic position.
Figure 9 is the inferior
surface of the brain.
From the optic chiasm,
the optic nerves extend
rostrally, and the optic
tracts pass backward
across the cerebral
pedicles. The basilar
artery, formed by the
junction of the two
vertebral arteries,
extends from the
inferior to the superior
border of the pons.
Figure 10 shows the
vertebral artery running
cranial-ward through the
foramen in the
transverse processes of
the cervical vertebrae
to the inferior surface
of the skull. The
vertebral artery bends
abruptly around the
articular process of the
atlas and makes another
abrupt bend to enter the
cranial cavity through
the foramen magnum,
where it joins the other
vertebral artery to form
the basilar artery.
Having studied these
images of neuroanatomy,
proceed to
Michelangelo's Creation
of Adam (Figure 11) and
look at the image that
surrounds God and the
angels.
This image has the shape
of a brain.
Figure 12 shows that
Figure 2 is obtained by
tracing the outer shell
and the sulcus. Figure
13 shows that Figure 4
is a tracing of the
outer shell and of major
lines in the fresco of
God and the angels.
Therefore, Figures 1 and
3 are tracings of
neuroanatomy drawn by
Frank Netter, and
Figures 2 and 4 are
tracings from the
Creation of Adam by
Michelangelo.
The sulcus cinguli
extends along the hip of
the angel in front of
God, across God's
shoulders, and down
God's left arm,
extending over Eve's
forehead. The flowing
green robe at the base
represents the vertebral
artery in its upward
course as it twists and
turns around the
articular process and
then makes contact with
and proceeds along the
inferior surface of the
pons. The back of the
angel extending
laterally below God
represents the pons, and
the angel's hip and leg
represent the spinal
cord. The pituitary
stalk and gland are
depicted by the leg and
foot of the angel that
extends below the base
of the picture. Note
that the feet of both
God and Adam have five
toes; however, the
angel's leg that
represents the pituitary
stalk and gland has a
bifid foot. This same
angel's right leg is
flexed at the hip and
knee; the thigh
represents the optic
nerve, the knee the
transected optic chiasm,
and the leg the optic
tract.
The important point,
however, is not to
identify minute
neuroanatomic structures
in the fresco, but to
see that the larger
image encompassing God
is compatible with a
brain. Michelangelo
portrays that what God
is giving to Adam is the
intellect, and thus man
is able to "plan the
best and highest" and to
"try all things
received".
References
1. Tusianai J. The
Complete Poems of
Michelangelo. New York,
NY: Noonday Press;
1960:146-147.
2. Vasari G; Bull G,
trans. Lives of the
Artists. Middlesex,
England: Penguin
Classics; 1965:332-333.
The above article
appeared in the October
10, 1990 edition of JAMAź,
The Journal of the
American Medical
Association, Volume 264,
No. 14. The drawings by
Frank Netter, MD
(Figures 5, 6, 7, 9, and
10) were reproduced from
this article.
Wellcorps International
wishes to express our
sincere gratitude to Dr.
Frank Meshberger for
having the clear and
objective perspective to
correlate his many years
of medical training and
knowledge into an
objectivized
understanding of one of
the world's great art
treasures and gifts —
allowing us a glimpse
into the mind of a
spiritual artistic
genius who asks us to
see beyond the bounds of
religion into the deeper
meaning of the cosmos.
 Perception: the degree,
angle, and percentage of
judgment.
In its simplest form the
symbol has been used by
countless civilizations
to relay, to impart, to
generate a responsive
understanding of
meaning. In its purest
form the symbol not only
communicates a meaning,
it communicates a
contextual meaning which
carries an
emotionally-based
message individually
interpretive by the
observer — the full
extent of which is not
readily apparent without
further, reflective
understanding.
The transformation of
knowledge into
understanding and wisdom
is at the heart of all
sacred disciplines and
practices. From the
ancient rainforests,
where entheogenic
potions brewed by the
shamans brought
transformative and
symbolic visions and
ecstatic understandings
of man's relationship to
himself and to the
universe, to the modern
laboratories of chemists
and physicists, where
the symbolic equations
of mathematics and
science bring a seeming
endless stream of
technology, the power of
the symbol remains
inextricably fixed in
the human experience.
Rulers of the ancient
worlds understood the
power of language and
the inherent danger of
misinterpretation of the
written word. This
knowledge was the reason
texts were forbidden and
the only forms of
acceptable communication
were carefully-crafted
symbols which carried
contextual meanings
intended to include the
common man within a
higher, inspirational
focus. Petroglyphs and
hieroglyphs, in
connection with artistic
representations of life,
communicated practical
knowledge as well as
inspirational, spiritual
wisdom.
The Observer,
Observing Himself,
Being Observed.
Weighing of the Heart.
Papyrus of Ani; The
Egyptian Book of the
Dead.
Symbols help us to see
beyond the ordinary
realms of conscious
interpretation, to
include ourselves and
our historical reference
of experience into the
translation and the
meaning. And, in every
true symbol lies art —
an inspirational
capturing of a whole
greater than the sum of
its parts — oftentimes
providing an unwritten,
nonverbal realism to
aspects and perspectives
overlooked, forgotten or
ignored.
Scale. Artwork copyright
Anita Kunz. All rights
reserved.
Some, so perfectly
designed, it may take
generations to realize
the full meaning and
challenge of the
representation.
The Last Supper.
Michelangelo Buonarroti.
It is a constant idea of
mine, that behind the
cotton wool {of daily
reality} is hidden a
pattern; that we — I
mean all human beings —
are connected with this;
that the whole world is
a work of art; that we
are parts of the work of
art.
— Virginia Woolf in A
Sketch of the Past
The world in which we
find ourselves today is
a world increasingly
obvious to be
intricately inter-woven,
inter-connected and
inter-dependent. The
walls of judgment, the
illusions of separation
and the exclusion of the
ecological impact of our
daily activities are
quickly coming down and
coming to an end. These
modern-day realities are
requiring all of us to
look at our lives, our
careers, our families
and our communities in
ways we had never
imagined. Our ability to
thrive, indeed, our very
survival, depends upon
this expanded awareness.
In short, life itself is
demanding that we change
our perception and gain
a new perspective.
If I am not for myself,
who will be?
If I am for myself only,
what am I?
If not now, when?
This call to
sustainability and
stewardship — a return
to indigenous wisdom in
a modern world — is
requiring from each of
us a renewed level of
energy, a new enthusiasm
and an inner confidence
that only a healthy
lifestyle, a positive
mental attitude and
sharp thinking can
provide. If we are to
remain competitive in
today's global
marketplace, keep our
creative edge, and
provide sustainable
income and lifestyles
for ourselves and our
families, we are going
to have to out-think,
outsmart, and outrun our
contemporaries — in ways
and means that no longer
negatively impact the
planet and the future
health of our own
children.
Eve. Artwork copyright
Anita Kunz. All Rights
Reserved.
The significant problems
we have cannot be solved
at the same level of
thinking we were at when
we created them.
— Albert Einstein
It's time to get real
and get well. From the
foods we eat and refuse
to eat, to the ways in
which we move and get
our groove, today's
watchwords are respect
and responsibility — for
ourselves and others.
It's all about becoming
self aware. And in that
awareness, a
transformation of
conscious understanding
of our intention in
everything we do,
everything we say, and
everything we choose to
believe.
Now's the time to think
harder, longer, deeper,
wiser. To ask ourselves
the question "Why?"
until we have an answer
and not a reason.
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