School of Athens [copy] : Partial view, showing figures at the viewer's lower left corner
- Creator:
- Raphael, 1483-1520 (after)
- Published/Created:
- 1752-1755
- Physical Description:
- 425 x 840 cm (width)
- Date Depicted:
- 5/25/2007
- Materials:
- oil paint on canvas
- Notes:
- Philosophy is one of a series of five copies of famous Italian frescoes commissioned from Mengs and other artists by the Earl of Northumberland in 1752 to hang in the long gallery in Northumberland House (for the other four see C.M. Kauffmann, Catalogue of Foreign Paintings, vol I, London, 1973, pp. 189-90). When Northumberland House was demolished in 1874, the painting was moved and eventually gifted to the V&A in 1926. Raphael's fresco of Philosophy, known as the School of Athens, was executed between 1508-1511 and fills a lunette in the Stanza della Segnatura in the papal apartments in the Vatican. In order to adapt this enormous painting to a rectangular format without diminishing the size of the figures, Mengs has truncated and compressed the architectural elements and sculptural forms at the top, while inserting additional figures at the side. Where the original fresco is disturbed (on the left) by the top of a door, Mengs has inserted a plinth bearing his signature, the title and date, while repositioning the painted reliefs to suit this addition.
- Variant Titles:
- Copy of Raphael's 'School of Athens' in the Vatican
- Associated Names:
- Mengs, Anton Raphael, 1728-1779 [Painter]
Percy, Hugh Smithson, 1st Duke of Northumberland, 1712-1786 [Patron] - Topics:
- Painting -- Britain -- 18th century -- (YVRC)
Painting -- Italy -- 16th century -- (YVRC) - Period/Style:
- Eighteenth century
Renaissance - Culture:
- British
Italian - Accession Number:
- 7A1-RS-VA-SA-A10
- Genre:
- paintings (AAT)
- Format:
- Image
- Content Type:
- Paintings & Drawings
- Rights:
- Copyright Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc
The use of this image may be subject to the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) or to site license or other rights management terms and conditions. The person using the image is liable for any infringement. - Access Restrictions:
- Yale Community Only
- Digital:
- allegorical; historical; portraits; Raphael; Humanism; education; Liberal Arts oil painting (technique) copies (derivative objects); reproductions; replicas; visual works; paintings (visual works) The standing figure with the book is thought to represent
- Source Creator:
- Gilchrist, Scott
- Source Title:
- Archivision Module Four
- Source Created:
- 2878 Chamonix, Montreal QC
Archivision, Inc.
5/25/2007 - Source Note:
- Purchase, Visual Resources Collection, May, 2011; photographer Scott Gilchrist
- Yale Collection:
- Visual Resources Collection
- Digital Collection:
- Visual Resources Collection
- Original Repository:
- London, England: Victoria and Albert Museum
- Local Record Number:
- 4152
- OID:
- 10109496
- PID:
- digcoll:1823937