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Detail of The creation of Adam, the fresco painted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel.

All changes undergone by human activity could symbolically be reflected in the length of an arm.

When there were no machines, labourers were the main workforce and their arms the instrument of labour. In point of fact, an arm bent at the elbow flexing bulging biceps represents physical strength. More skill-demanding jobs that do not rely on force are mostly accomplished with the hands. Such is the case with craft and artisan work. Moving forward within the realms of intellectual pursuit, the fingers become particularly relevant. It is the fingers that hold the pen we write with or the brush that captures on a canvas an artist’s inner self. (more…)