Art Selection #7, pp. 80-5,
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), c. 1508–11
Development of Linear and Atmospheric Perspective in the
Renaissance
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
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
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
Linear perspective
 Florentine architect Filippo




Brunelleschi (1377-1446) invented it
Also known as SINGLE VANISHING
POINT PERSPECTIVE
Renaissance painter Masaccio (14011428 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
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.
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
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
Brunelleschi’s Linear Perspective
 mathematical system used to
 organize an image and
 determine the relative scale of objects within it.
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.
Brunelleschi’s Experiment:
 About 1420
 a visual demonstration
of the linear perspective
concept,
 illustrated that it could
indeed
 recreate a perfect image
of real, threedimensional space
 on a two-dimensional
surface.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
ATMOSPHERIC PERSPECTIVE
 Descriptions and explanations of the technique were
written during this period by artists such as
 Leon Battista Alberti and
 Leonardo da Vinci.
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.
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.
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.
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)
TRUE FRESCO: BUON FRESCO
 ORIGIN & NAME
 from the Italian word “fresco,” meaning “fresh.”
 BUON FRESCO or TRUE FRESCO = The basic
process
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
LATER:The Stanza della Segnatura
THEN: Julius II’s personal library
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.
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.
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.
Law is now Jurisprudence
Poetry is Parnassus
Theology is The Disputa
Philosophy is The School of Athens
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.
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).
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.
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.
Raphael Transforms the Model
 Raphael
 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.
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.
.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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 understanding of the mathematician’s instruction—their
gestures and facial
expressions show that each is
at a different phase of the
process.
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.
The School of Athens
 The Cynic
philosopher
Diogenes is seen
sprawled on the
steps toward the
center of the
painting.
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.
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 understanding of the mathematician’s instruction—their
gestures and facial
expressions show that each is
at a different phase of the
process.
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.
The School of Athens
 At the extreme
right, we see a selfportrait 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).
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.
The School of Athens –
BY THE NUMBERS
WHO’S WHO?

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)
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