A description of Raphael’s cartoon will be accompanied by the recreation of the historical context of the decoration of the Stanze Vaticane, with MilanoGuida producing prints to enable visitors to visualise Raphael’s iconographic programme as a whole. The artist aimed to represent the ideal order of humanist culture, divided into theology, philosophy, poetry and jurisprudence.
On a stylistic level, the contextual analysis of the Cartoon in the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana and the frescoes of the Stanza della Segnatura will bring out the supreme results which Raphael achieved, thanks to the example of Michelangelo, in terms of grandeur of architectural invention, compositional skill, the variety of the characters’ attitudes and the amplification of the drapery, becoming a true model for the coming centuries. It even inspired Pellizza da Volpedo’s painting of the Fourth Estate.
Finally, together with the historical, iconographic and stylistic aspects, the guided tour will offer an in-depth study of the fresco technique and the phases of the work.
The School of Athens, Raphael (1483-1520), 1510, preparatory cartoon, charcoal and white lead, 285 × 804 cm (detail)
Opening hours and access procedures for the month of March
