Oration on the Dignity of Man and Adam's Creation Comparision
In 1486, Pico Della Mirandola pronounced Oration on the Dignity of Man, which was Mirandola’s way of questioning the human nature of the human creature. Some twenty-five years later, in 1511, Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, or now simply known as Michelangelo, completed the Moment of Man’s Creation, a scene painted on the ceiling of the famous Sistine Chapel located in present day Vatican City which depicted the creation of the Biblical character, Adam. Both Mirandola’s discourse and Michelangelo’s painting were completed during the height of the Renaissance, and both works reflected the key ideas of this time period. The values of the Renaissance expressed in the Oration on the Dignity of Man and the Moment of Man’s Creation are Realism, Idealism, and Humanism. Realism is the idea that events are understood through logic/reason. In the Oration on the Dignity of Man, Mirandola states, “… thou mightest be free to shape and to overcome thyself.” This can be seen as realism due to the fact that in reality, humans from all walks of life must transcend their own problems and mold themselves in the image that they want to be. Also, Mirandola states, “… To thee alone is given a growth and development…” humans on the Earth go through stages of growth, such as childhood and adolescent, and development, socially, mentally, and physically. In the Moment of Man’s Creation, Adam, who is the lone figure on the left on the scene, physically looks like a human being. In the aspect of Realism, this connects with the key ides because it is the view of a human being as a human being looks like in reality. At the same time, Michelangelo has portrayed the Creator and the other figures- presumably angels- in an accurate representation of the Cingulate Sulcus portion of the human brain. Realism is present in that portrayal subsequently because the brain looks like such as the accrual human brain. Idealism is the belief that perfection is possible, and that all efforts