The Masters II: Raphael

Intro: 

* Raphael was born in Urbino, Italy, near Florence.

* Spent the majority of his artistic career in two cities: Florence and Rome

* In Florence,

he was very successful in a short amount of time. He captured the attention of Pope Julius II. The pope then paid for him to paint numerous amounts of work, for private rooms in papal residency, or in public rooms called stanzas for the papal church as well.

* Schools of Athens and the Disputa come from these Papal rooms

* For certain commissions that he deemed to be not so important, he would outsource his work to trusted artists. He would finish off the pieces and clean them up after.

* Trompe l'oeil is a French term for fool or trick or the eye.

Disputa 

* Fresco painted on the wall of the stanza in one of the papal residences. The arch is a trick of the eye, implementing different colors or gradients or values of paint to give the illusion of shadow. 

* Seems to be the dome of heaven. God is in the center, Jesus is sitted with him. John the Baptist and many other saints. 

* Peaceful nature represents heaven, Figures look calm and reflective 

* Below heaven appears to be the more material, earthly world. People are looking up, gazing and seeking to be with the heavens. They have an element of anxiousness as they seek the union. 

* Shows religious nature and orientation in his pating shows commission

The Small Cowper Madonna

* Cowper is the name of one of the more recent owners of the work. The real name is the Small Madonna.

* Madonna is also known as Mary or the Virgin, the mother of God.

* She holds baby Jesus

* likely on a panel

* Influence of Leonardo da Vinci-- Mary and Christ are in a pyramidal or a triangular composition. If you follow the gaze of the eyes both figures look in perpendicular areas, emphasizing triangular element. Leonardo was a huge influence on this style of portraits

* Technique implemented: Chiaroscuro--very light lights, and very dark darks. The darks in her waist area, the bottom of Jesus, and fabric, are in contrast to the very light highlights of the skin. Leads to disparity among the values, enforcing the 3d of the subjects.

The School of Athens

* In same room as Disputa

* Athens is a city in Greece. Raphael references Golden Age, the age of heightened ideals, heightened philosophies, theories about form, and the meaning of life--philosophy, etc. 

* Points viewers with linear perspective to the center, focusing on Plato and Aristotle.. Aristotle was Plato's student, and Plato was the student of Socrates.

* References classical antiquity as seen in the columns and the large-based pedestals, coffered ceilings, a barrel vault

* Shows two Greek gods--Apollo, who is god of sunlight, rationality, poetry, the arts, and Minerva, who is the goddess of wisdom and the mechanical arts. 

* Plato points up, and Aritostle has his hand extended to emphasize relationship with the ground, Earth.

* Figure below is on a reclined position, contemplating in deep thought. Art historians believe that Raphael painted a portrait of Michelangelo in the school of Athens. Raphael shows reverence to his colleague, immortalizing him, though he is also his competitor. Shows him in a painting revering the work of the great thinkers of ancient Greee.

* Plato on left, right is Aristotle. Plato points up to the heavens. Plato believed in philosophy there was an ideal form for everything, and the ideal could only come, exist in the heavens. In contrast, Aristotle points down, showing that he believed all knowledge could be obtained through scientific inquiry. 

Pope Leo X with Cardinals 

* Successor of Julius II.  On his left and right are cardinals--they are not as significant.

* Priests-bishops-cardinals-one Pope. 

* No one looks at audience or at each other. It is an uneasy, heightened sense of anxiety in the work. The deep colors that Raphael used emphasized this mood.

Last Example: Raphael's Transfiguration, when Christ goes up to heaven. 

* Pyramidal composition, heavy use of dark and light (chiaroscuro technique), influences from Leonardo. Emphasis on atmospheric perspective.

Definitions:

• trompe I’oiel arch - A painting technique that creates an illusion of a window arch

• tapestry - A type of textile art