Old Masters · Genesis 1:1 · 4 October 2026 · 4 works

The Creation

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Four paintings for the first chapter of the Bible, from the gathered waters to the first human being.

This is the outside of the Garden of Earthly Delights. With its wings closed, the triptych shows the world on the third day, painted in grey: the waters are gathered, the first plants grow, and neither animal nor human is there yet. In the upper corner sits God, very small.

Hieronymus Bosch, The Creation of the World, c. 1490–1500 — **Hieronymus Bosch**, The Creation of the World, c. 1490–1500

On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel God appears twice in one field. On the right he flings out both arms and sets sun and moon in their places; on the left he is seen from behind, already on his way to the plants.

Michelangelo, The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Plants, c. 1511 — **Michelangelo**, The Creation of the Sun, Moon and Plants, c. 1511

God sweeps across the picture like a gust of wind, and the animals move with him: the birds in the air, the fish in the water, all in the same direction.

Jacopo Tintoretto, The Creation of the Animals, c. 1550–53 — **Jacopo Tintoretto**, The Creation of the Animals, c. 1550–53

Two hands, and a gap between them. Adam lies on the earth, complete but slack; God arrives in a cloak full of figures and stretches out his finger. Michelangelo painted the moment just before the touch.

Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, c. 1511–12 — **Michelangelo**, The Creation of Adam, c. 1511–12