Raphael’s fresco was often noted for its divisiveness, with the Pope and Attila representing light and dark respectively. Occasionally a point for criticism, the split look of the image was often credited to the contribution of Raphael’s pupils to the painting (Wölfflin 110). In any case, the effect created a contrast between the Pope with his envoy and Attila with his hordes. The Pope and his attaché exerted a calm and dignified look, with the light background and hovering saints helping establish the desired courtly tone. In contrast, Attila and his comrades appeared frenzied because of the appearance of the saints overhead, and Raphael portrayed them in front of a darker background. Originating in the Medieval era and continuing through the Renaissance, the people associated light and dark with purity and corruption respectively (Thoenes 52). Raphael made the trend clear by having the righteous and holy Pope in the light as contrast to the dark and agitated barbaric Hun, repulsed by the power of God through the saints Peter and Paul. The division and contrast between light and dark was a trend throughout the Italian Renaissance. Raphael’s fresco, created during …show more content…
The Ionic portico at the front served as an indicator of its Greek style. The “simplicity and grandeur” of the villa was architecturally Greek, rather than Roman (Forssman 7). The influence of Greek architecture derived from Venice’s ties to Greece. At the time, Venice dominated the Eastern Mediterranean, and as a result was more tied to Greece than to Rome. This displayed as the Greek architectural style of simple Ionic porticos and columns made up the majority of the building (Forssman 8). Humanist trends of the time influenced the mimicry of classical Greek structure in the building. However, despite the architectural roots being Greek, much of the structure of the villa derived from the villas of ancient