School of Athens by Raphael Analization
The School Of Athens by Raphael
Nii Teiko Tagoe
9/11/12
LBTS 1105 The School of Athens by Raphael is a painting that really relates to classical philosophy and humanism. It is one of the greatest paintings in the high Renaissance, and it was painted in one of the greatest most extraordinarily decorated rooms in the Vatican, the name of the room was the Stanza della Segnatura.” The school of Athens” was painted by Raphael between 1508 and 1511, and it was right around the time Michelangelo was painting the 16th chapel. One of the things that makes this painting so special is that “The School of Athens” represents all the greatest mathematicians, philosophers and scientists from classical antiquity gathered together sharing their ideas and learning from each other. These figures all lived at different times, but here they are gathered together under one roof. The painting consists of generic and geometric shapes there is a good balance of both in the painting. One of the first things that stand out to me is all the decoration that is surrounding the fresco in the painting and also the monochromatic sculptures at the base that are supporting the fresco. When you look close to the painting you can see that it was done in a one point perspective, the vanishing point and the horizon line run right through the center of the picture and sort of terminate behind the two central figures heads, and those two are Plato and Aristotle. The vanishing point almost divides the painting into two as its right in the middle of those two figures. The only place that I see a two point perspective being used in this painting is the block of stone on the floor that Michelangelo is leaning on. I also see some illusionism giving a sense of space going on as pertaining to the use of one point perspective, through the floors and the coffers and the celling. The use of simulated and actual texture and repetition in these areas also help create some of these illusions. There are different
Nii Teiko Tagoe
9/11/12
LBTS 1105 The School of Athens by Raphael is a painting that really relates to classical philosophy and humanism. It is one of the greatest paintings in the high Renaissance, and it was painted in one of the greatest most extraordinarily decorated rooms in the Vatican, the name of the room was the Stanza della Segnatura.” The school of Athens” was painted by Raphael between 1508 and 1511, and it was right around the time Michelangelo was painting the 16th chapel. One of the things that makes this painting so special is that “The School of Athens” represents all the greatest mathematicians, philosophers and scientists from classical antiquity gathered together sharing their ideas and learning from each other. These figures all lived at different times, but here they are gathered together under one roof. The painting consists of generic and geometric shapes there is a good balance of both in the painting. One of the first things that stand out to me is all the decoration that is surrounding the fresco in the painting and also the monochromatic sculptures at the base that are supporting the fresco. When you look close to the painting you can see that it was done in a one point perspective, the vanishing point and the horizon line run right through the center of the picture and sort of terminate behind the two central figures heads, and those two are Plato and Aristotle. The vanishing point almost divides the painting into two as its right in the middle of those two figures. The only place that I see a two point perspective being used in this painting is the block of stone on the floor that Michelangelo is leaning on. I also see some illusionism giving a sense of space going on as pertaining to the use of one point perspective, through the floors and the coffers and the celling. The use of simulated and actual texture and repetition in these areas also help create some of these illusions. There are different