Michelango's fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in Rome is considered one of the greatest works of art of all time. It is a painting of different scenes of the book of Genesis from the Christian Old Testament. It is extremely intricate and powerful. The most famous scene is God giving life to Adam, the first man. This is one of the most famous images in art, ranking with the Mona Lisa by da Vinci. It is used as a metaphor for some huge accomplishment, something that will affect large numbers of people and be remembered for a long time. I suggest you do a google search on "michelangelo sistine chapel" for some images. I have been to the Sistine Chapel and I can definitely say it was worth a sore neck from looking up up in order to see it in person.

Michelangelo - a glorified ceiling painter Sistine Chapel - an extravagantly made chapel

You can read about Michaelangelo at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo