God Creating the Universe (from the Stanza d'Eliodoro), 1938.60

This drawing shows a bearded divine figure suspended in flight, his body twisting with power as he stretches his arms across the composition. The sketch focuses on the movement of the heavy robes and the intense expression of the Creator amidst faint suggestions of clouds. It is a study after the central figure from the ceiling of the Vatican's Room of Heliodorus, representing the primal moment of cosmic creation.

The depiction of the Creator in human form reflects the Renaissance Neoplatonic synthesis of the Christian God with the Platonic 'Demiurge,' the rational architect of the universe. This visual language was central to the intellectual atmosphere of the Vatican under Julius II, where biblical narrative was harmonized with classical natural philosophy.