1. THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS Art Selection #7, pp. 80-5,
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), 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)
Columbia University’s Art Humanities Series: Masterpieces of Western Art
Raphael's Fresco of the School of Athens (18:04)

5. Simple perspective
Invention of Giotto di Bondone ( ), 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 ( ) invented it
Also known as SINGLE VANISHING POINT PERSPECTIVE
Renaissance painter Masaccio ( 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 Duomo in 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:
YouTube:
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.
Sfumato means 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 the giornata area 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)

33. Raphael: Biography and Artistic Career
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino
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 da Montefeltro, 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
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 Donato Bramante 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 della Segnatura,
But it was Julius’s personal library at the time the frescos were commissioned

40. The School of Athens: Analysis
Vasari identified the room as the Stanza della Segnatura in 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 della Segnatura THEN: 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” (uomini famosi) 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 uomini famosi model
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’s Studiolo (in Urbino, Raphael’s birthplace) and
the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia (which he may have helped Perugino to paint).

51. The “Famous Men” Prototype
the Duke of Urbino’s Studiolo
the Collegio del Cambio in Perugia (
These examples similarly show a grouping of individuals, and in each case, the men stand plainly in view, labeled with their names for easy identification.

52. Raphael Transforms the Model
his images instead present figures in dynamic conversation with each other.
Their poses are lively, and
their interactions suggest individual personalities and manners.

53. Raphael Transforms the Model
also avoided identifying notations, and so
leaves the work of identifying the figures up to the viewer.
We assume that Raphael’s patron would have given specific instructions
as to the iconography of these paintings,
including lists of the figures to illustrate.
The way in which Raphael was able to enliven this fairly straightforward directive is a true testament to
his artistic skill and
indicates a highly sophisticated and educated audience.

54. The School of Athens the most famous of the frescos.
illustrates a plaza
filled with all of the known philosophers and scientists of the ancient world—the men whose wisdom was rediscovered throughout the Renaissance.
The architectural space is clearly classical in inspiration.
Above are a series of three massive, coffered barrel vaults
that echo the ruined ancient baths and basilicas that were still visible in the heart of Rome. .

55. The School of Athens
The plaza is decorated with classical statuary, including flanking colossal figures of
Apollo, patron god of the arts
Athena, patron goddess of wisdom.

56. The School of Athens
The architecture is clearly organized using linear perspective.
Orthogonal lines run through
the vaulting as well as
the stonework of the flooring.

57. The School of Athens Raphael also employed atmospheric perspective,
which can be seen in the gradual lightening of the blue in the sky as the space recedes.

58. The School of Athens Within this vast and beautiful space are gathered
dozens of figures,
each presented as an individual character with his
physical features,
costuming, and
posture.
Many are in concentrated and energetic conversation,
while others appear more pensive and psychologically isolated within the space.

59. The School of Athens
At the center of the assembly, and at the epicenter of the fresco, we see
Plato
Aristotle.
clearly silhouetted against the sky in the distance
the vanishing point of the composition is located between their heads.

60. The School of Athens Plato is on the left, bald and
with a long gray beard.
Holds his book, Timaeus, in his left hand,
points upward with his right.

61. The School of Athens Aristotle is on the left darker hair and beard,
holds his own Ethics in his left hand, and
gestures, hand flattened and palm downward, with his right.

62. The School of Athens
These distinct motions indicate divergent perspectives,
one heavenly and
the other worldly,
which can be seen to sum up the philosophical ideas of the two men.

63. The School of Athens
Arranged in a large, elliptical form around the central figures are other important classical thinkers.
to the left with Plato
philosophers concerned with the ultimate mysteries transcending this world are
on the right with Aristotle:
those concerned with nature and the affairs of men

64. The School of Athens
It is believed that each figure represents a specific individual, though there is much debate regarding who each one might be.
Some generally accepted identifications include Socrates,
who is seen in the group at the base of the Apollo statue to the left.
He ticks points off on his fingers as he defends an argument to the figures around him—enacting the Socratic method of learning.

65. The School of Athens
In the right foreground, Euclid is seen holding calipers and demonstrating a theorem for a group of students.
Each member of the group illustrates a different moment of coming to an under-standing of the mathema-tician’s instruction—their gestures and facial expressions show that each is at a different phase of the process.

66. The School of Athens
Pythagoras is seated and writing at the lower left while a young figure holds up an image of a harmonic scale.

67. The School of Athens
The Cynic philosopher Diogenes is seen sprawled on the steps toward the center of the painting.

68. The School of Athens
Another important aspect of the fresco is that it is believed that Raphael included a number of his contemporaries in the painting.
For example, it has been suggested that the Euclid figure is a portrait of the architect Bramante.

69. The School of Athens
In the right foreground, Euclid is seen holding calipers and demonstrating a theorem for a group of students.
Each member of the group illustrates a different moment of coming to an under-standing of the mathema-tician’s instruction—their gestures and facial expressions show that each is at a different phase of the process.

70. The School of Athens
The foreground figure, who glumly rests his head on his hand in the traditional pose of melancholy, is possibly a representation of Raphael’s contemporary, Michelangelo, in the guise of the philosopher Heraclitus.

71. The School of Athens
At the extreme right, we see a self-portrait of the artist, who looks directly out at the viewer (as he would have done in looking at himself in a mirror to create the likeness).

72. The School of Athens
This inclusion of contemporary thinkers in the form of their classical precursors is an extremely elegant illustration of the Renaissance itself.
Overall, the School of Athens is one of the most significant frescoes of the era.
It not only demonstrates the high level of technical skill and aesthetic beauty we have come to expect from art of this period,
but it also sums up, in so many aspects of its visual and conceptual form, the most important ideas of the age.

73. The School of Athens – BY THE NUMBERS

74. WHO’S WHO? 11: Parmenides 12: Socrates 13: Heraclitus (Michelangelo)
According to Michael Lahanas in his book The School of Athens, “Who is Who?” Puzzle they are usually identified as follows:
1: Zeno of Citium
2: Epicurus
3: Federico II of Mantua
4: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius or Anaximander or Empedocles 5: Averroes
6: Pythagoras
7: Alcibiades or Alexander the Great?
8: Antisthenes or Xenophon
9: Hypatia (Francesco Maria della Rovere)
10: Aeschines or Xenophon
11: Parmenides
12: Socrates
13: Heraclitus (Michelangelo)
14: Plato (Leonardo da Vinci)
15: Aristotle
16: Diogenes
17: Plotinus or Michelangelo
18: Euclid or Archimedes with students (Bramante)
19: Zoroaster
20: Ptolemy R: Apelles (Raphael)
21: Protogenes (Il Sodoma, Perugino, or Timoteo Viti)
11: Parmenides
12: Socrates
13: Heraclitus (Michelangelo)
14: Plato (Leonardo da Vinci)
15: Aristotle
16: Diogenes
17: Plotinus or Michelangelo
18: Euclid or Archimedes with students (Bramante)
19: Zoroaster
20: Ptolemy R: Apelles (Raphael)
21: Protogenes (Il Sodoma, Perugino, or Timoteo Viti)

75. Videos: Smarthistory: Art History at Khan Academy
Raphael, School of Athens (12:29)
Columbia University’s Art Humanities Series: Masterpieces of Western Art
Raphael's Fresco of the School of Athens (18:04)