School of Athens Fresco
Oil painting - The School of Athens (after Raphael)
Object: Oil painting Place of origin: Rome, Italy (painted) Date: 1752-1755 (painted) Artist/Maker: Mengs, Anton Raphael, born 1728 - died 1779 (artist) Raphael, born 1483 - died 1520 (after, artist) Materials and Techniques: oil on canvas Credit Line: Given by the Duke of Northumberland, 1926 Museum number: P.36-1926 Gallery location: In Storage
Public access description Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779) was born in Bohemia now Czech Republic. He accompanied his father, who was a painter, in Rome and Dresden where he became a successful portrait painter. Having been appointed Hofmaler in March 1751, he left Dresden the following September, eventually spending the next ten years in Italy and never returning to Dresden again. In Rome and Naples, Mengs produced classical and religious scenes. He also wrote some theoretical texts under the influence of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. This painting is a full-size copy of the famous fresco the School of Athens painted by Raphael in 1508 in the Vatican. This copy was commissioned by the Duke of Northumberland in 1749 and represents the ancient knowledge of the most famous philosophers with in the centre Plato and Aristotle whose doctrines would dominate the Western thought from Antiquity up to the late 17th century. The painting was originally on display in the long gallery of Northumberland House in London. Destroyed in 1874, the painting was transferred in his new residence, 2 Grosvenor Place, before being given to the museum in 1926. Descriptive line Oil on canvas copy of Raphael's 'School of Athens', painted by Anton Raphael Mengs. German School, 1752-1755. Physical description A large number of figures wearing classical dress stand in groups, engaged in debate, or sit alone absorbed in thought, within a classicizing architecture partially open to the sky and ornamented by sculptures in niches. Museum number P.36-1926 Object history note Long gallery, Northumberland
Object: Oil painting Place of origin: Rome, Italy (painted) Date: 1752-1755 (painted) Artist/Maker: Mengs, Anton Raphael, born 1728 - died 1779 (artist) Raphael, born 1483 - died 1520 (after, artist) Materials and Techniques: oil on canvas Credit Line: Given by the Duke of Northumberland, 1926 Museum number: P.36-1926 Gallery location: In Storage
Public access description Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779) was born in Bohemia now Czech Republic. He accompanied his father, who was a painter, in Rome and Dresden where he became a successful portrait painter. Having been appointed Hofmaler in March 1751, he left Dresden the following September, eventually spending the next ten years in Italy and never returning to Dresden again. In Rome and Naples, Mengs produced classical and religious scenes. He also wrote some theoretical texts under the influence of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. This painting is a full-size copy of the famous fresco the School of Athens painted by Raphael in 1508 in the Vatican. This copy was commissioned by the Duke of Northumberland in 1749 and represents the ancient knowledge of the most famous philosophers with in the centre Plato and Aristotle whose doctrines would dominate the Western thought from Antiquity up to the late 17th century. The painting was originally on display in the long gallery of Northumberland House in London. Destroyed in 1874, the painting was transferred in his new residence, 2 Grosvenor Place, before being given to the museum in 1926. Descriptive line Oil on canvas copy of Raphael's 'School of Athens', painted by Anton Raphael Mengs. German School, 1752-1755. Physical description A large number of figures wearing classical dress stand in groups, engaged in debate, or sit alone absorbed in thought, within a classicizing architecture partially open to the sky and ornamented by sculptures in niches. Museum number P.36-1926 Object history note Long gallery, Northumberland