The Creation of Adam illustrates the Biblical story from the Book of Genesis in which God the Father breathes life into Adam, the first man. Chronologically the fourth in the series of panels depicting episodes from Genesis on the Sistine ceiling, it was among the last to be completed. It is arguably one of the most famous and most appreciated images in the world.

God is depicted as a bearded old man wrapped in a swirling cloak that he shares with some cherubim. His left arm is wrapped around a female figure, normally interpreted as Eve, who is not yet created and, figuratively, waits in heaven to be given an earthly form. God's right arm is outstretched to impart the spark of life from his own finger into that of Adam, whose left arm is extended in a pose mirroring God's. Famously, Adam's finger and God's finger are separated by a slight distance.

The composition is obviously artistic and not literal, as Adam is capable of reaching out to God even before he has actually been given "life." For this same reason, Eve is visually depicted prior to her own creation, although this has led a few people to believe the female figure must be Adam's mythical first wife, Lilith; however, this interpretation makes no more literal sense since Lilith was also created after Adam.

The similar poses of God and Adam -- the positions of God's right leg and Adam's left are, for instance, nearly identical -- reflect the fact that, according to Genesis 1:27, God created man in His own image. At the same time God, who is airborne and appears against ovoid drapery, is contrasted with earthbound Adam, lying on a stable triangle of barren ground (Adam's name comes from a Hebrew word meaning "earth").

Source: Vatican Museum, Wikipedia