The return of Adam to the Metropolitan Museum of Art is an exciting moment in the cultural scene in New York — and in more ways than one. The statue, by the Venetian Renaissance master Tullio Lombardo, is the first free-standing male nude of the Common Era. The pedestal on which it was resting at the Met collapsed in 2002, and the six-foot-three-inch tall statue shattered. It will go back on display Tuesday. Putting it back together that took more than a decade.

That is something to think about in this age of controversy over the idea of intelligent design. That is the idea that the universe and man could have been designed only by a vast intelligence — say, God’s. This is much ridiculed by the scientific community and the New York Times. Yet blamed if the Times isn’t out with a terrific scoop about the recreation of Adam. The Times reporter, Carol Vogel, marvels at the fact that it took so long to put Adam back together.

It took 12 years, though the statue had shattered into only several hundred pieces, 28 of which, Ms. Vogel reports, were “recognizable,” the head among them. The restoration was overseen by Jack Soultanian and Carolyn Riccardelli, with what Ms. Vogel puts at “dozens of scientists and engineers.” CatScans were done. Repairs were made to the nose, head, hands, knee, foot, and torso. New, fiberglass pins were used, along with a special adhesive. Laser-mapping technology was used to creat a “three-dimensional ‘virtual Adam,’” Ms. Vogel reported.

Lucky for the Met that the museum didn’t have to reassemble the masterpiece atom-by-atom, not to mention quark by quark. Think of all the CatScans that would have required. Imagine, then, what was involved in creating the original statue. Not to mention the original Adam. We’ve always loved the joke about the scientists who go to God to tell Him that He’s no longer needed because they’ve figured out how to make a man. “Show me,” God says. One of the scientists bends down to pick up some dirt. “Oh, no,” God interrupts. “You have to make your own dirt.”