God and brain - Michelangelo’s Secret message in the Sistine Chapel: A juxtaposition of God and the human brain of Michelangelo's "Creation of Adam".I love Art and paintings,but n'r new about this coincidence and interpretation before. Some call it fascinating,others 'brainy' and yet others describe it as, 'cooler than the DaVinci Code.'.Read on and have a beautiful Sunday...
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 Dr Frank Lynn Meshberger, M.D from St John's Medical Center in Anderson, described what millions had overlooked for centuries — an anatomically accurate image of the human brain was portrayed behind God. He argues that Michelangelo used his knowledge of Neuroanatomy to portray the brain symbolically in his ''Creation of Adam''.
In the famous fresco, Adam and God face each other, arms outstretched, index fingers almost touching, while a crowd of angels and an apprehensive Eve peer from God's side.
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 painting depicts God bestowing intellect on man, arguing that Adam’s eyes are open in the painting, God and the angels take on the distinct shape of a brain, and that Michelangelo was well aware of human anatomy from the many cadavers he dissected in his study of the human form for his art.
Dr. Meshberger's theory appears in The Journal of the American Medical Association and here is the Wellcorps article by him.If you can comprehend medical terms have a look at the article.It has lot more info.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B_26xUByFu4-Nzg2ZmI0NDYtZGUxMi00M2E2LWJiMjEtYTJjNmRmYjg2NDBj&hl=en_US
Pic Credit - Pic from Paluzzi et al.,Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2007 to which i added some greens.
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