ABSTRACT
In 1508 the great Renaissance artist Michelangelo was called to Rome by the pope to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It was a staggering task for a man who was primarily a sculptor, and took years to complete. Michelangelo set out, as part of his task, to retell the story of the Book of Genesis in the Bible: the creation of man and woman, their fall and expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and their agony as they faced the wilderness of the world with its continuation of sin. The religious gap worldwide seems to get ever wider and bloodier. Jerusalem is a tinderbox ready to explode in the strife-ridden Middle East. Hindu and Muslim mobs kill and loot in India. Christian and Muslim gangs engage in bloody fighting in Indonesia.
