Vision of a Knight (Raphael)
Painting by Raphael
Vision of a Knight | |
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Artist | Raphael |
Year | 1503-1504 |
Type | Egg tempera on poplar |
Dimensions | 17.1 cm × 17.1 cm (6.7 in × 6.7 in) |
Location | National Gallery , London |
The Vision of a Knight , also called The Dream of Scipio or Allegory , is a small egg tempera painting on poplar by the Italian Renaissance artist Raphael , finished in 1503–1504. [1] [2] It is in the National Gallery in London . It probably formed a pair with the Three Graces panel, also 17 cm square, now in the Château de Chantilly museum.
There are a number of theories as to what the panel is intended to represent. Some art historians think the sleeping knight represents the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus (185 – 129 BC) who, according to Cicero's Somnium Scipionis , dreamed that he had to choose between Virtue (behind whom is a steep and rocky path) and Pleasure (in looser robes).
"This sleepy Lancelot also conjures up memories of another ancient hero: the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus, who toured the cosmos in a dream and learned (at least according to Cicero) that the reward of virtue is a place among the stars in heaven." [3]
However, the two feminine figures are not presented as contestants. They may represent the ideal attributes of the knight: the book, sword, and flower that they hold suggest the ideals of scholar, soldier and lover which a knight should combine.
The most likely source for the allegory depicted is from a passage in the Punica , an epic poem recounting the Second Punic War by the Latin poet Silius Italicus . [4]
The panel was moved to England by William Young Ottley in 1800.
Raphael used an extensive palette of paints to depict this colourful scene. [5] Pigments such as lead-tin yellow , ultramarine , verdigris and ochres have been identified in an pigment analysis at ColourLex. [6]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Thoenes 2005 , p. 17.
- ↑ Girardi 1999 , p. 31.
- ↑ Rowland 2020 .
- ↑ nationalgallery 2012 .
- ↑ Roy, Spring & Plazzotta 2004 .
- ↑ colourlex 2022 .
References
- Thoenes, Christof (2005). Raphael . Taschen .
- Girardi, Monica (1999). Raffaello. La ricerca della perfezione e la tenerezza della natura . Associati.
- Rowland, Ingrid D. (2020). "The Virtuoso" .
- nationalgallery (2012). "Iconography | Studying Raphael | Research | The National Gallery, London" . Nationalgallery.org.uk . Retrieved 17 October 2012 .
- Roy, A.; Spring, M.; Plazzotta, C. (2004). "Raphael's Early Work in the National Gallery: Paintings before Rome" .
- colourlex (2022). "Raphael, An Allegory (Vision of a Knight)" . Retrieved 3 August 2022 .
External links
- Details of the piece, National Gallery
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Media related to Dream of the Knight and the Three Graces by Raphael at Wikimedia Commons