DISPUTA OF THE HOLY SACRAMENT

Located on the upper floor of the Vatican palace, the Stanza della

Segnatura was used by the ageing Pope Julius II (1503-13) as a library.

Raphael used the shape of the room and the divisions of the ceiling as a

basis for the layout of his paintings, accepting them as limitations rather

than trying to disguise them. Raphael expressed the humanistic philosophy

he had learned in the Urbino court as a boy, in the theme of the Stanza

della Segnatura (completed in 1511). It shows divinely inspired human

 intellect in four spheres: theology, poetry, philosophy,

and law. The painting shows a continuation of the circle of eternity

explaining how the knowledge is transferred and new things are explored

with time.

In the painting, Raphael has created a scene spanning both heaven

and earth. Above, Christ is surrounded by a halo, with the Blessed

Virgin Mary, John the Baptist a his right and left. Other various

biblical figures such as Adam, Jacob and Moses are to the sides. God

the Father sits above Jesus, depicted ruling over the golden light of

heaven, and below Christ's feet is the Holy Spirit.

 On opposite sides of the Holy Spirit are the four

gospels, held by putto. Below, on the altar sits the monstrance.

All together this fresco depicts over 100 figures. We can see the

transfer and evolution of knowledge ascending from God to the people

of the past such as St Augustine and St Ambrose are seated to the

right of the altar and Pope Gregory I and St Jerome to the left. Also

present are Pope Julius II, Pope Sixtus IV, Savonarola, and Dante

including Raphael’s mentor can be seen in the painting where as he

 made himself in the fresco on the opposite side ‘the school of Athens’

which he painted after Disputa, explaining that all that he had

learned from his mentor was now being developed upon by Raphael

himself in the fresco.

In a brilliant design in perspective, the painting guides the viewer's

eye to the altar, which is situated in a space below the half-circle of

clouds upon which Christ and others are sitting. The painting is set on

an outdoor setting with the altar placed on the ground, sky in the

middle and shows sunlight above all. The Disputation's semicircular

 space seems to be like an apse, without walls or a roof, where two

assemblies of equal size and dignity reflect and debate on the nature.

There is also a hidden, though not so well to be overlooked, design by

which Raphael painted a great cross composed through the horizontal

line of saints, prophets and patriarchs on the clouds and the vertical

line of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, along with the people who

serve, humans.
The two axes are crossed in the painting the unity between God and

man is preserved through the image of Jesus Christ, the son of God,

who is seated above the two schools. The four Gospels visible from the

wings of the Spirit hovering above the monstrance suggest the

unbreakable relationship between the religion and human. This idea

makes up humanism as humanism wasn’t rejecting Christianity,

many paintings depicted religious icons as a matter of fact, but it did

 expand beyond portraying religious figureheads on the further

interest in realism to human anatomy.

The structure of the composition is characterized by extreme clarity

and simplicity, which Raphael achieved through sketches, studies and

drawings containing notable differences in pose. The cross layout, the

gestures and the poses are original products of Raphael's research,

which here reaches a degree of admirable balance and high expressive

strokes which gives all the figures depth and perspective. All the

figures are given a human feel and are different from one another by
showing realism at its best in this fresco. We see a strong ambition to

create realistic linear and atmospheric perspectives in paintings.

Color palette:

Raphael's mural painting techniques used permanent lime proof

pigments, dispersed in water, which were painted on freshly laid lime

plaster. His use of color is the closest to perfection as nearly any

artist. Again, with a drive for realism, we see that when they are not

facing forward and to the side, their arms and legs are (logically) not
visible due to the fact that they are behind which is why we see the

amazing use of shadows and darker tones of the shades along with

many shades of human skin tones. His work showed humans the way

they were rather than beautifying them to perfection.

Use of light:

Similarly, to Michelangelo, he creates lights and shadows within the

tones of a single color and combines color in a dramatic manner. He

skillfully uses light and shadow to emphasize distance in not only the
 far way objects, but in the very clothing of the people. We see the

shimmer of more luxurious fabric as appose to the duller colored.

There is a direct point to where the light is coming from; we know

exactly where the sun is located even though it is not actually in the

scene. The desire to paint what is actually seen, to give the viewer a

sense that they could simply walk into the painting was influenced by

humanisms ambition for perfection.

 Brush stroke:

Raphael's brush stroke included the use of Secco (the technique of

painting a mural on dried lime plaster or retouching a fresco after it

was hardened) and Intonaco (putting the final coat of plaster on the

fresco while it is still wet) techniques. His mastery of brush stroke is

evident in the idealized portraits that represent key figures from the

Old and New Testaments, saints, Doctors of the Church, theologians

and literary personages.