Art analysis
Raphael Sanzio da Urbino, or
Raphael, born 1483, was an Italian renaissance painter and architect. Raphael
was born in Italy and his father was a painter for the Duke of Urbino.
Giovanni, his father, taught Raphael painting techniques and humanistic
philosophy. At 11 years old his father died, and Raphael took over for his
father and quickly became known as the finest painter in town.
In 1500, Raphael became an apprentice to
Pietro Vannunci in Perugia, Italy. There they worked on frescoes at the
Collegio del Cambia. He interned with
Pietro for four years and ended in 1504 when Raphael moved to Florence and was greatly
influenced by the works Italian painters such as Leonardo da Vinci and
Michelangelo.
Raphael moved to Rome in 1508 and
painted the “Stanze” in the Vatican. Then from 1509 to 1511 he painted the
Stanza della Segnatura at the Vatican. He was commissioned by Pope Julius II to do
the painting. The Stanza della Segnatura
became one of the most highly regarded frescoes of the Italian High
Renaissance.
When he painted the School of Athens,
he also included a self portrait of himself in the painting. (see below)
Lines and Shapes
This piece of art uses several different types
of line, including horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and curved. It even uses
some zigzag lines that are located on the arche and on the ceilings. There are also geometrical shapes and patterns
with the painting. The center of the painting is the main focus as you can tell
from the way the lines lead you to Plato and Aristotle. The lines give the
painting a sense of being three-dimensional. They also give the painting a
sense of motion with the way Plato and Aristotle appear to be walking to the
front, and the gestures of the other characters.
Tone and Color
The tone used in the painting along with the
lines help to give the three-dimensional appearance as well. It creates shadows and implies the sense of
depth. The colors that are used seem to give the painting a warm and calm feel
to it. The brighter colors such as the reds, oranges, golds make the painting
feel that way. The painting also has a balanced feel due to the diversity of
colors that are used and no one color appears to be used more than others.
Pattern and Texture
There are detailed patterns on the walls of
the dome as well as the floor. These
patterns suggest that architecture and design are valued in this society. The
detail that is put into the fabric appears to try to show that at the time,
those people lived luxurious lifestyles.
Form
As mentioned in the lines and shapes section, the lines
Raphael used give the painting a sense of being three-dimensional. As you can
see from the pictures it is quite a big painting based on the scale compared to
the people in the room.
Biography.com Editors. “Raphael Biography”, 1 April 2014, https://www.biography.com/artist/raphael Accessed 13 September 2021
Christopher P. Jones. “How to Read Paintings: The School of
Athens by Raphael” 12 February 2021
Unknown. “Raphael, School of Athens” Unknown
Hi Lisa, I did a blog on the School of Athens also. I like that you added more photos from different angles of the painting. Thanks for sharing on your blog, there are many art elements in this painting so I did a blog on this painting.
ReplyDeleteSchool of Athens has to be one of the most iconic pieces that have ever existed, it shows the thinking of the time during the renaissance with the return to classical thinking of the times of the Greeks and Romans. I appreciate how in-depth you were with this and did your best describing the various different parts that the piece shows off.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how detailed you were in your description. I too find the use of shapes and lines very interesting in this work, especially the repeated arches. It's quite impressive how many real people were included in the painting. Besides Plato and Aristotle, other famous philosophers can be found throughout the work. I also had no idea it was so huge! I can't imagine how many hours it must have taken to complete.
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