Surname 1

Student’s Name

Professor’s Name

Course

Date

Art history comparison paper

Art history denotes the study of object of specific art that was developed in a specific

period in time. “School of Athens” (1509-1511) by Raphael and Rembrandt’s “Night Watch”

(1642) are pieces of art which portray distinctive historical developments. Both art works

represents and frames groups of people engaged in diverse activities to portray the central

characteristics of people at the historical time which the art was developed. After a comparison

of the two artworks, it is ubiquitous that the artists utilized extended metaphor where objects are

strategically placed into the art to portray a specific meaning. In “School of Athens”, Raphael

uses books to signify the schools of thought and philosophy at the time while in the “Nights

Watch”, Rembrandt uses musket to signify the civic duty of the guardsmen at the time.

Raphael, the composer of the “School of Athens,” lived and worked in Florence and

Rome for a better part of his life which was the basis of his artistic style. He is well known for

his use of colors and compositional elegance. He was commissioned by the Pope to paint the

Vatican and created a series of frescoes that are part of his major artistic works (Skills 3). In the

“School of Athens,” Raphael portrays a scene of people sitting while other men are

contemplating, debating, and seeming to be calculating something. These activities are

components of classical Greek-inspired architectural settings. The central figures referred to by

 Surname 2

the artist in the School of Athens are the two most prominent men in Ancient Greek philosophy:

Plato, on the left, and Aristotle, on the right.

In the left hands of the two ancient philosophers' books, Plato’s Timaeus and Aristotle’s

ethics are observable. It is also evident that Plato points upwards using his index finger while

Aristotle’s hand is raised with the palm facing down as if he is trying to calm or bless people

(Haas 9). On the other hand, “the Night Watch” by Rembrandt is a group portrait of a militia

company. The militia company was made up of people who, when needed, could be called upon

to respond to riots or could defend the city. In the painting, Rembrandt depicts Captain Frans

Banning Cocq and his lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburgh, surrounded by a group of sixteen

men. Compared to other artworks showing the portraits of the civic guards, “The Night Watch”

stands out due to its originality. Instead of replicating the typical arrangements of the bows and

arrows, the artist has animated the portrait.

There is a clear distinction between the two artworks based on the context in which the

art was developed. Due to the inclusion of Plato and Aristotle, each holding books in their left

hand, it is evident that most people engaged in scholarship and literary composition at the time.

As stated above, most people are seen debating or contemplating a subject of their own which

suggests that there was fierce competition among scholars at the time and a depiction of

philosophy (Hass 10). On the contrary, in “The Night Watch,” the artist shows a group of

militiamen holding rifles and other weapons while seemingly appearing happy. The group

appears to be a clique of people who eradicated acts of delinquency from other members of

society. This group also seemed to be compact under their captain and were joyful at that

moment. Specific actions are performed by sitters denoted by their roles are militiamen. There is

a great deal of energy among the members of the militia groups, which forms part of the joyful
 Surname 3

atmosphere. One of the noticeable elements of “The Night Watch” art is the musket weapon, the

official weapon of the Kloveniers. Three of the five musketeers have been given a prominent

place behind the captain and the lieutenant.

Similar to the school of Athens, which simultaneously depicted several activities done by

different groups of people, “The Night Watch” shows a group of mercenaries doing unrelated

activities within the set. More so, the artistic uses specific elements such as books or spears to

allow the audience to contextualize the art work. When an audience looks at the books depicted

in the School of Athens, he or she will understand that the context is philosophy, scholarship, or

literary composition. When an audience looks at the muskets in the “Night Watch,” he or she

will deduce that the people portrayed are engaged in wars.

 Surname 4

Work cited

Haas, Robert. "Raphael's School of Athens: A Theorem in a Painting?." Journal of Humanistic

Mathematics 2.2 (2012): 2-26.

Skikos, Anthony. "Christian Classicism and Raphael’s School of Athens." (2018).