Raphael’s Philosophy, or better known as School of Athens, 1509-1511 was one of the many great paintings that re-established the harmony of classical antiquity from the Greek and Roman predecessors of art during the glorious Renaissance era. It was a time of revival, renewal, and expression in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century. Here, we will explore the visual elements and principles of design that hold School of Athens in a harmonious balance.
The School of Athens shows a setting inside a building with large domical vaults with a large group of men occupying the middle ground and foreground beneath the sharp lines of a large semi-circle arch, in which the viewer’s eyes follow rhythmically back and forth. Implied lines in the lower half of the painting set the suggested geometric shape of a rectangle that houses the group of men standing on top and below the stairs of
the building in an almost perfect quadrant. The lines formed by edges from the men’s heads indicate an implied line that the viewer’s eyes follow horizontally across the painting and parallels the hidden horizon in the background. Shadows fall mostly from beneath the suggested masses in the painting, which indicates that light is coming from the top, moreover, the light source is coming from the windows in the domes and open arched door above and behind the stairs. Aside from the monochromatic colors of the building in the background, School of Athens is painted with an open palette, granting use of more colors to emphasize contrast and differentiation from each man in the room. This emphasis contributes to the spatial representation of the painting to suggest a three dimensional occupancy. Raphael has used the background, middle ground, and foreground to exemplify the amazing pri
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