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 . 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 elements used, such as line, texture and repetition that helps strengthen Raphael’s painting.

Overall Raphael’s use of warm colors in most areas of the painting could be looked at symbolically, such as the use of red demonstrating wisdom and power as it is used on the main figures in the painting. The colors in general are light but not too bight to keep a sense of seriousness in the painting. The warm light is focused more on the people in the back, and shadow is slightly casted upon the figures towards the front. Raphael used chiaroscuro to show underlying body structure in each of the figures and to also show and create depth and shape in the painting. he painting overall has a lot of analogous color schemes going on, with the characters, and the same analogous color scheme going on with the walls, the windows the floors and the back ground in general. But the color scheme in the characters pertaining to the background is complimentary when it comes to certain figures. Overall this is a wonderful piece of art and Raphael did a great job over all of depicting each individual character and brings life into them in the painting.