The School of Athens is a masterpiece created by Raphael that is viewed as an outstanding achievement of the high renaissance and an impeccable artwork. This pierce of art shows a lively and exciting atmosphere due to the renaissance environment (Bishop 63). The painting could be considered fascinating because of the use of various figures in a single scene. The School of Athens as a whole shows a space that is full of light. This is evident in the back, where the architecture opens up and only shows glimpses of the sky and clouds. Raphael also used color in a realistic way to show how the light comes in through the gaps in the background. Therefore, The School of Athens by Raphael is interesting and has different elements to guide viewers to understand the art.
The composition is visually pleasing because it uses diagonals, patterns, and structures to lead the reader throughout the painting. From the edges of the picture, the eye moves easily toward the middle. In the middle of the painting, there is a clear line of symmetry. In addition, Raphael shows good composition by giving Plato and Aristotle the same amount of space in the middle of the painting. This gives the painting a strong sense of balance and enables the readers to understand its meaning. The different parts of Raphael’s painting help convey the intended message to the audience. When making the patterns on the floor and ceiling, Raphael used both texture and repetition. For example, repetition help reinforces specific information to the audience. As a result, all of the lines work together to draw the eye to a single point in the middle.
The School of Athens has warm colors that were used symbolically. Red could be seen as a sign of wisdom, power, or influence. The colors are generally light, and nothing is too bright or out of the ordinary because the scene is meant to be serious. The light in the painting comes from many windows and the room’s brightness demonstrate that information comes from various sources. People in the back are getting more warm light, while people in the front are getting a little bit of shadow as shown in the figure below (Stewart). For example, Raphael used chiaroscuro to show how each figure was built from the inside out and give them depth and shape. Thus, the color used in The School of Athens was effective because it displays the mood of the individuals in the painting.
The School of Athens is an artwork that exemplifies, among other aspects of painting technique, what a great painting should be in terms of composition. Raphael gives the picture the illusion of depth by using a realistic foreground, middle ground, and background in the composition. A number of different diagonals are utilized, and they all direct the viewer’s attention toward the middle of the painting. The painting uses color, and one way that color is conveyed is through the various hues of clothing worn by the subjects. One can get a sense of each individual’s power based on the colored fabrics. Plato is depicted as the focal point of the composition, is clothed in red, a color that painters frequently employ to symbolize power and authority. Therefore, The School of Athens is an interesting and informative pierce of art done by Raphael.
Works Cited
Bishop, Paul. “Aristotle and the Empirical Approach.” German Political Thought and the Discourse of Platonism. Finding the Way Out of the Cave. Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
Stewart, Jessica. “The Story Behind Raphael’s Masterpiece ‘The School of Athens.’” My Modern Met, Web.