Raphael self portrait school of athens

Portrait of a Young Man. The Marriage of the Virgin. The Triumph of Galatea. Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione. Disputation of the Holy Sacrament. The Deposition. Portrait of Bindo Altoviti. Mond Crucifixion. Vision of a Knight. Madonna del Cardellino.

Raphael self portrait school of athens

There are two statues in the background of the composition with each on opposite sides of the court area. To the far left is Apollo and to the far right is the Greek goddess Athena, who is known as Minerva in Roman mythology. Apollo is the god of many things, namely, light and the Sun, including archery, prophecy, truth, healing, dance, music, and more.

Athena symbolizes justice, victory, law, wisdom, and strategic war. Apollo stands with a lyre in his left hand and is positioned to the left side of the composition so that he could be closer to the north wall painting, Parnassuswhich symbolized the raphael self portrait school of athens of poetry in the humanities. Similarly, Athena symbolized philosophy and wisdom, which also corresponded to the south wall painting Cardinal and Theological Virtues, depicting the field of law.

As we mentioned earlier, the architectural setting was inspired by the St. The layout also resembles the shape of a Greek cross, while the ceiling above the hall was executed in a coffered barrel vault style, which was also a style we see in Roman architecture. We also see other architectural patterns, namely a geometric band of interlocking squares, decorating the inside of the main archway in the foreground.

These are referred to as Greek Frets or Greek Key and were considered common decorative patterns in Classical Greek and Roman architecture, as well as pottery. The entire composition of The School of Athens depicts a light-filled space. We see this especially near the background, where the architectural space widens and provides us with a glimpse of the blue sky and white clouds.

The color scheme utilized in this fresco was generally light. This was an indication of how Raphael utilized the sfumato and chiaroscuro techniques. Raphael utilized color in a realistic manner to portray how the light falls from the openings in the background. The two central figures are seemingly highlighted by the archway opening directly behind them.

There is also an opening above the figures, which suggests another source of light that we cannot see. There is much to be said about how Raphael depicted and utilized elements of space in The School of Athens painting. Firstly, the foreground opens, as if it is a stage that we can walk into. In other words, the composition welcomes us, the viewers, to participate in the philosophical calculations and contemplations.

This is emphasized by the large arch, which almost frames the composition and can be compared to a theater space. This horizon line also falls under the bases of the two flanking statues of Apollo and Athena. As part of linear perspective, the orthogonal lines converge from the foreground, notably the grouping of figures in the left and right corners, to form the vanishing point.

The slanted marble block also adds to the perspectival lines, as they converge from below. On the floor in the foreground, a series of squared patterns add to the spatial awareness. The vanishing point falls between the two central figures of Plato and Aristotle in the sky in the background. From above, one can notice the converging lines that form as a result of the alignment of the barrel vaulting, of which there are two archways and a third near the end of the hall, behind the central figures.

This act of multi-layered observation into the past and pre-determined cast of history-makers makes the work appeal to philosophical thinkers. We also notice that there is quite a large section of unfilled space in the foreground, most of the figures are either grouped to the left and right sides of the composition. Additionally, these groups are on two tiers, which consist of the four steps that run along the midsection of the hall.

This elevation of a few figures elevates the perception of multiple perspectives in the scene and provides balance in terms of how Raphael utilized linear perspective. The all-important thing was the artistic motive which expressed a physical or spiritual state, and the name of the person was a matter of indifference" in Raphael's time.

An interpretation of the fresco relating to hidden symmetries of the figures and the star constructed by Bramante was given by Guerino Mazzola and collaborators. Paolo Zamboniprofessor of vascular surgery at the University of Ferraramade a medical study of the painting, noting that Raphael's depiction of Michelangelo as Heraclitus shows varicose veins in the legs.

The identities of some of the philosophers in the picture, such as Plato and Aristotle, have been ascertained. Several other of Raphael's figures have been the subject of conjecture. Some have received multiple identifications, both as depictions of ancients and as portraits of Raphael's contemporaries. Vasari mentions a portrait of the young Duke of Mantualeaning over Bramante with his hands raised near the bottom right, and a self-portrait of Raphael himself.

In the center of the fresco, at its architecture's central vanishing pointare the two undisputed main subjects: Plato on the left and his student Aristotle on the right. Both figures hold contemporary of the time bound copies of their books in their left hands, while gesturing with their right. Plato holds Timaeus and Aristotle holds his Nicomachean Ethics.

Plato is depicted as old, grey, and barefoot. By contrast, Aristotle, slightly ahead of him, is in mature manhood, wearing sandals and gold-trimmed robes, and the youths about them seem to look his way. In addition, these two central figures gesture along different dimensions: Plato vertically, upward along the picture-plane, into the vault above; Aristotle on the horizontal plane at right-angles to the picture-plane hence in strong foreshorteninginitiating a flow of space toward viewers.

It is popularly thought that their gestures indicate central aspects of their philosophies: for Plato, his Theory of Formsand for Aristotle, an emphasis on concrete particulars. Many interpret the painting to show a divergence of the two philosophical schools. Plato argues a sense of timelessness whilst Aristotle looks into the physicality of life and the visible world.

The building is in the shape of a Greek crosswhich some have suggested was raphael self portrait school of athens to show a harmony between pagan philosophy and Christian theology [ 5 ] see Christianity and Paganism and Christian philosophy. The architecture of the building was inspired by the work of Bramante, who, according to Vasari, helped Raphael with the architecture in the picture.

Peter's Basilica. There are two sculptures in the background. The one on the left is the god Apollogod of light, archery and music, holding a lyre. The main arch, above the characters, shows a meander also known as a Greek fret or Greek key designa design using continuous lines that repeat in a "series of rectangular bends" which originated on pottery of the Greek Geometric period and then became widely used in ancient Greek architectural friezes.

A number of drawings made by Raphael as studies for the School of Athens are extant. The cartoon for the painting is in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana in Milan. The group of the philosophers in the left foreground strongly recall figures from Leonardo's Adoration of the Magi. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has a rectangular copy over 4 metres by 8 metres in size, painted on canvas, dated by Anton Raphael Mengson display in the eastern Cast Court.

Modern reproductions of the fresco abound. For example, a full-size one can be seen in the auditorium of Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia. Produced in by George W. Breck to replace an older reproduction that was destroyed in a fire init is four inches off scale from the original, because the Vatican would not allow identical reproductions of its art works.

A tapestry reproduction by the Gobelins Manufactory and commissioned by Louis XIV hangs above the presiding officer's platform in the French National Assembly chamber. Similar subjects are known from antiquity, notably the Plato's Academy mosaic. It perhaps also appeared in two groups of statues from Roman Egypt. Mattusch Plato and Thales are commonly identified as central figures.

Although painted using different techniques, in both portraits the artist portrays himself with an identical expression and features. In short, he is wearing his simple working attire, an intentional allusion to his trade, which he proudly proclaims here in this way. On this occasion, using reflectography, researchers were able to view the preparatory drawing and how the colour was applied, observing an exquisite refined technique that consisted in building the picture by applying shiny translucent glazes to a white primed background.