School of Athens [copy] : Partial view, showing figures at the viewer's lower right side

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-A13

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) Bramante, Donato The group is thought to represent Euclid

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:

10109499

PID:

digcoll:1864356