Wall, John - Moral Creativity: Paul Ricoeur and the Poetics of Possibility

Michelangelo's painting “The Creation of Adam,” on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, portrays humanity and God as almost mirror images of one another. God floats through the clouds with a host of angels at his side and stretches out his finger to meet the half-raised finger of a reclined and naked Adam on earth. The two gaze into each other's eyes almost as if at their own shining reflections. Possibly Adam is not fully aware of the gift he is about to receive (or just has?). His face is somewhat empty, and his body is relaxed and unmoving. But God himself (let us return later to the question of gender) is highly anthropomorphic, not only in his appearance and dress but also in his apparent anxiety and desire to bring this divine-human encounter about. Not only is Adam a reflection of his Creator, but the Creator itself is also a reflection in some sense of Adam, so that the two share a certain mirrored likeness.