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Tania Mora
ENC3315
Argumentative Writing
Professor Marinara
Fall 2014[AV1]
Rhetorical Analysis
The Creation of Adam in Modern Advertizing
Art has been used to express ideas and believes beliefs since ancient times. Much of the
knowledge we have about ancient Egypt and other civilizations have has been learned from
sculptures, scrolls and paintings which helps us understand their development, rituals and
believes beliefs. Just like written stories, pictures can convey and idea in a very explicit way.
Pictures, paintings and drawings are used to communicate, manifest or even influence believes,
beliefs, ideas and decisions of the audience to whom they are directed. As the audience, we are in
the position to interpret and understand the meaning of these paintings and drawings from our
point of view without leaving the meaning between the lines uncovered. In order to discover the
meaning between the lines in a painting, we taken into consideration the time, situation, setting
and circumstances in which the art was created.
For instance, The Creation of Adam is one of the nine panels dedicated to Bbiblical
history painted in the Sistine Chapel, Italy. Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint
the Sistine Chapel. As Leader[AV2] explains in her article, Michelangelos Last Judgment The
Culmination of Papal Propaganda in the Sistine Chapel, these paintings seem created for an
audience with a theological understanding. Even though, during the Renaissainse Renaissance
the artists were in a stage of separating the basic believes beliefs the church had imposed in on
them, these paintings seem to evoke devotion and contemplation for the Biblical meaning. In
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tThe original painting, God reaches out to Adam to impart the breath of life. In the expression of
Adams face, the painter uses emotional appeal to move his audience to a feeling of meekness
and necessity. The image of Adam is relaxed and meek yet strong and almost perfect. As per the
expression of God is that of power and compassion.

On the other hand, the same image is now aimed at a totally different audience. This ad is
not evoking feelings or reflections on the Bbiblical meaning;, in on the contrary, the painting is
use to denote the desirability of a drink which is what in this case is offered by God. The same
image of Adam now represents almost the same relaxation and perfection, but now reading
between the lines of the painting we do not see meekness and necessity., Iinstead, we can see
desire. The desire is no longer life, instead the drink is. In perspective of superiority, the drink is
portrait portrayed as from high above, . Ssomething desirable by the almost perfect and relaxed
man that waits with a certain audacity and confidence. All these descriptions of the beer we
could see it only in the depiction of it in the context of the picture[AV3]. To make it more certain
and assertive, the creator of the ad takes a step forward and adds the words The Most Desired
Beer in Italy. This adds a deeper dimension to the meaning of the ad. The creator of the ad is
not only using what we can see, but also what most people know. The painting of The Creation
of Adam is one of the most famous works of art from the Renaissance era. Most people who visit
Italy would seek to visit the Sistine Chapel to see and admire Michelangelos paintings. This is
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one of the tourist most visited places in Italy. This along alone leads to the thought that if the
beer can be related to such important piece of history, then it must be something that deserves the
attention the ad is aiming for. The ad also has a very esplicit phase that leaves nothing to
interpretation. It implies that Moretti is the most desired beer in Italy.

One flaw on the ad is the Ffaulty Uuse of Aauthority. Relating the drink to a very popular
and important painting in a way makes the beer just as important and popular as the painting
itself. The ad is trying to imply that the beer is just as good or seek sought after as the painting.
Maybe tourists who just arrive in Italy could fall for something like this.
In conclusion, pictures, paintings and works of art can be used to convey and idea, a
feeling or to create a reaction. The audience of each piece is different and the creator of the ad
needs to know to whom he/she is aiming the ad to. The use of classical art in contemporary
advertising can be very effective depending on where it is placed. The ad I think is a good
combination of knowledge of the old and the relation to the necessity of people to belong or be
part of something more important and popular than the regular[AV4].





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Works Cited
"Ancient Egypt Pictures & Galleries." History.com. A&E Television Networks. Web. 29 Sept.
2014. <http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt/pictures>.
Leader, Anne. "Michelangelo's Last Judgment: The Culmination of Papal Propaganda in the
Sistine Chapel." Academia.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2014.