THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS

1. THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS Art Selection #7, pp. 80-5, Raphael (RaffaelloSanzio), c. 1508–11 Development of Linear and Atmospheric Perspective in the Renaissance

3. Videos: • Smarthistory: Art History at Khan Academy • Raphael, School of Athens (12:29) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpLEUF8qS3o • Columbia University’s Art Humanities Series: Masterpieces of Western Art • Raphael's Fresco of the School of Athens (18:04) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOrG6jfBzEU

5. Simple perspective • Invention of Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), a fresco painter • between the Gothic and Renaissance periods • This technique overlaps objects to imply distance

6. Two major artistic innovations of the Renaissance • ATOMOSPHERIC & • LINEAR PERSPECTIVE • Improved NATURALISM in two-dimensional art • allowed artists to create a convincing representation of real space within a landscape scene • quickly adopted by artists, who to developed increasingly true-to-life forms using these techniques

7. Linear perspective • Florentine architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) invented it • Also known as SINGLE VANISHING POINT PERSPECTIVE • Renaissance painter Masaccio (1401-1428 first applied this in art (seen here in The Trinity) • Even though northern Renaissance painters learned this approach, they used it in a different manner • Lines converge towards one or more vanishing points on a real or imaginary horizon

8. ATMOSPHERIC or AERIAL PERSPECTIVE • the technique of suggesting depth as in one’s actual visual perception • by depicting distant objects in softer focus, hazy • with less detail and paler colors.

9. BRUNELLESCHI invents LINEAR PERSPECTIVE • Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) • Builder of the dome of the Duomoin Florence • the inventor of linear perspective in the Renaissance

10. BRUNELLESCHI develops LINEAR PERSPECTIVE • inspired by the study of ancient texts, esp. those describing mathematical laws by • Euclid • Ptolemy • Using theoretical manuscripts, and perhaps through the process of attempting to sketch ancient ruins in Rome accurately, Brunelleschi developed the elements of linear perspective: • horizon line, • vanishing point, and • orthogonal lines

11. Brunelleschi’s Linear Perspective • mathematical system used to • organize an image and • determine the relative scale of objects within it.

12. Brunelleschi’s Linear Perspective • HORIZON LINE • to mark the location of the horizon in the distance of the image. • VANISHING POINT on the HORIZON LINE • Usually at the center of the horizon • The ideal point of view • ORTHOGONAL LINES • series of diagonal lines • from the edges of the picture to the vanishing point. • The resulting grid became • the underlying organizational structure of the image, and • the scale of all of the details within the work was then determined by that grid.

13. Brunelleschi’s Experiment: • About 1420 • a visual demonstration of the linear perspective concept, • illustrated that it could indeed • recreate a perfect image of real, three-dimensional space • on a two-dimensional surface.

14. Brunelleschi’s Experiment: • Brunelleschi painted an image (now lost) of the piazza of the Baptistery of Florence using his linear perspective system. • He drilled a hole in the center of the panel at the vanishing point. • Then positioned a viewer at the same location within the piazza from which he had painted the scene. • FIRST: • hold up the painting, • turn it to face the Baptistery, and • look through the drilled hole at the back.

15. Brunelleschi’s Experiment: • Next: • hold a mirror up in front of the painting. • see Brunelleschi’s painting reflected in the mirror, and • then drop the mirror and see the actual piazza view through the drilled hole. • In comparing the two, the viewer was convinced of the accuracy of the image and thus Brunelleschi’s method.

16. Brunelleschi’s Experiment • Linear Perspective: Brunelleschi's Experiment from Khan Academy (4:15) • SmartHistory: http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/Brunelleschi.html?searched=brunelleschi& • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkNMM8uiMww • BEST ONE: Episode 3 - POINT OF VIEW: Scientific Imagination in the Renaissance from James Burke’s series, THE DAY THE UNIVERSE CHANGED

17. Alberti: On Paintng (1436) • Brunelleschi was the first to demonstrate the principles of linear perspective, • it was not formally systematized until • Leon Battista Alberti (1404–72) • wrote On Painting in 1436 • effectively an artists’ manual explaining the process

18. ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE • a.k.a.: aerial perspective • the technique of suggesting depth • by depicting distant objects in softer focus, • with less detail and paler colors. • visually recreates the optical reality we experience • when we see a distant view, • where light is scattered across a vista by naturally occurring particles in the air, • such as smoke and water vapor.

19. ART VOCABULARY: • Sfumato: • (noun) - from the Latin (via Italian) fumare ("to smoke"), • used to denote a painting technique. • Sfumatomeans that there are no harsh outlines present (as in a coloring book). Areas blend into one another through miniscule brushstrokes, which makes for a rather hazy, albeit more realistic, depiction of light and color. • An early, wonderful example of sfumato can be seen in Leonardo‘s Mona Lisa

20. ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE • particularly effective in landscape views, • where an artist wants to show a deep recession into space. • While linear perspective • relies on orthogonal lines to achieve this effect, • in atmospheric perspective • the presentation is subtler and less precisely measured.

21. ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE • seen in some ancient frescos, such as • landscape scenes from Pompeii, • but it was first widely used in paintings during • the early Northern Renaissance • in the fifteenth century

22. ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE • Descriptions and explanations of the technique were written during this period by artists such as • Leon Battista Alberti and • Leonardo da Vinci.

23. FRESCO PAINTING • a major element of Italian Renaissance art, • particularly in its early phase. • Fresco is a type of mural or wall painting • in which the artist paints directly onto a wet plaster wall. • As the fresco dries, the pigment becomes embedded into the fabric of the wall, thus creating an extremely durable and long-lasting image.

24. FRESCO PAINTING • Method used since antiquity. • Examples from Greek art, • the Minoan period • on the island of Crete, • Palace at Knossos was decorated with fresco.

25. FRESCO PAINTING • The Romans embellished their domestic architecture with this technique, • and many frescoes may be found in ancient caves, palaces, and temples in India and Mexico.

26. FRESCO PAINTING • In more recent times, fresco was used by • the Mexican Muralists and • by American artists working for the Works Progress Administration during the 1920s and 30s. (Everett & Rivera)

27. TRUE FRESCO: BUON FRESCO • ORIGIN & NAME • from the Italian word “fresco,” meaning “fresh.” • BUON FRESCO or TRUE FRESCO = The basic process

28. TRUE FRESCO: BUON FRESCO • STEPS: • The entire wall is roughly plastered and prepared for painting. • The artist sketches an image directly onto this under layer or may transfer a full-scale preparatory cartoon of the work to the wall. • The lines of the sketch are pricked with holes. • The sketch is held against the wall, and a bag of chalk or ash (the SPOLVERO is hit along the drawing, leaving a line of dots on the wall which will serve as a design guide for the artist.

29. TRUE FRESCO: BUON FRESCO • THE INTONACO: • Each day, before work on the painting is undertaken, a thin layer of fine wet lime plaster, called the INTONACO, is applied to the wall in the area that will be worked for the day. • THE GIORNATA: • This area is known as the GIORNATA or “day’s work,” and pigment that has been mixed with water is painted into this layer during the course of the painting session.

30. TRUE FRESCO: BUON FRESCO • A major challenge = the painting area must be completed before thegiornataarea has dried. • Only then will the pigment become fully set into the wall. • If the giornata is not completed in time, or if any mistakes are made, the area must be scraped clean and the process repeated.

31. fresco à secco, or “dry fresco” • Another fresco technique which • involves painting onto the surface of a dry plaster wall. • does not exhibit the same durability as true fresco, • as the pigments do not bind to the wall in the same way. • Both techniques were used during the Renaissance period, • often in conjunction with each other in the same painting.

32. Watch 10:13 – 13:09 • Columbia University’s Art Humanities Series: Masterpieces of Western Art • Raphael's Fresco of the School of Athens (18:04) • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOrG6jfBzEU

33. Raphael: Biography and Artistic Career • RaffaelloSanziodaUrbino • was born on April 6 or March 28, 1483. • into an artistic family • His father, Giovanni Santi, was a painter in the court of Federico daMontefeltro, the Duke of Urbino.

34. Raphael • formal artistic career • began at age twelve • in the workshop of Perugino. • He left Urbino to work in Florence in 1504, • where he painted many of his famous Virgin and Child images • received a variety of commissions for altar paintings and portraits.

35. Called to Rome by the Pope • called to Rome • by Pope Julius II • in 1508 • to help decorate the Pope’s private apartments at the Vatican. • Raphael ultimately completed a number of works at the Vatican and • undertook many other projects for private patrons in Rome as well.

36. Succeeded Bramante as Vatican Architect • Raphael worked as an architect, designing churches, mansions, and palaces. • He succeeded DonatoBramante as chief architect of the Vatican in 1514. • He is known for various works in tapestry as well as drawing and printmaking.

37. Died in 1520 • became unexpectedly ill in late March of 1520, and • Died April 6th, 1520 , fifteen days later, • only thirty-seven years old • his artistic status, already well established in his lifetime, only continued to grow after his death. • Today he is considered one of the most important artists of the Italian Renaissance.

38. The School of Athens: Analysis • Went to Rome at the behest of Pope Julius II, • to assist in the redecoration of the papal apartments at the Vatican. • For Pope Julius II, • who ruled the Church from 1503– 13, • had moved his private quarters within the Vatican palace to new rooms in November of 1507. • Many artists contributed to the redecoration of these spaces, and • For Pope Leo X • after Julius’ death in 1513. • Raphael’s contribution to the project was finally completed in 1524, after the artist’s • own death in 1520.

39. The School of Athens: Analysis • The School of Athens is one of four frescoes Raphael created for this chamber • The chamber is known today as the Stanza dellaSegnatura, • But it was Julius’s personal library at the time the frescos were commissioned

40. The School of Athens: Analysis • Vasariidentified the room as the Stanza dellaSegnaturain his Lives because • by the 1540s, when he was writing his history of Renaissance art, it was the room where the Pope signed important documents. • *This point is an important one because in order to understand the meaning of the fresco cycle, it is necessary to understand how the space was used when the paintings were conceived. • In the early 1500s when Raphael began the decorations, the room held Julius’s personal library.

41. LATER:The Stanza dellaSegnaturaTHEN: Julius II’s personal library

42. Four Frescos for Julius’s Library • Books organized into • four groups, • according to the main branches of human knowledge recognized at that time. • The frescoes • correspond to these four categories and • are placed above the appropriate portion of the book collection. • In this way, the books and frescos together sum up Western learning as it was known in the Renaissance.

43. Four Frescos for Julius’s Library • On the longer walls of the rectilinear space, which held the bulk of the texts, were the larger frescos • Philosophy and • Theology, • The shorter walls presented • Poetry and • Law.

44. Four Frescos for Julius’s Library • These titles were used by Raphael to identify the works, but today we know the paintings by different names: • Law is now Jurisprudence, • Poetry is Parnassus, • Theology is The Disputa, and • Philosophy is The School of Athens.

45. Law is now Jurisprudence

46. Poetry is Parnassus

47. Theology is The Disputa

48. Philosophy is The School of Athens

49. The “Famous Men” Prototype • All of the frescos present scenes based on the “Famous Men” (uominifamosi) prototype. • This type of gathering, • which echoes contemporary sacra conversazione or “sacred conversation” altarpieces, • displays a group of important individuals together within a unified space.

50. The “Famous Men” Prototype • The uominifamosimodel • would have been familiar to Raphael, • as it was typical for library decoration at the time. • Two Renaissance examples in particular may have been known to him: • the Duke of Urbino’sStudiolo (in Urbino, Raphael’s birthplace) and • the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia (which he may have helped Perugino to paint).