Frame 3: Here, you don't need 3D Glasses

Being carried along the ruthless and endless current of Vatican crowds towards the Sistine Chapel, I was excited to see Raphael’s rooms-- the School of Athens fresco in particular.
Entering the chaotic tourist space of Stanza della Segnatura, I immediately faced the wall I was there to admire and did a 360 degree turn, looking all directions. Appreciating all four walls and the ceiling simultaneously, it all finally made sense to me. Raphael proved he was more than a synthesizer of the different renaissance styles, with the frescoes in Stanza della Segnatura, he transcended 3D structural space by providing viewers with a full body virtual reality experience.

Raphael delivered strongly using his “powers of invention” to challenge viewers physically, mentally and even spiritually. Never before had the idea of philosophy been depicted as dynamically, with a multitude of figures in a lively environment, each true to their element, doing what they do best. The fresco was notably innovative because it combined a great number of figures, a total of fifty-eight in the School alone, with identifiable figures, especially back then in Raphael’s era making the viewer a contestant of a guessing game. He included portraits of his contemporaries and men equivalent to modern day celebrities, some could have seen his painting at the time, such as the later added portrait of Michelangelo as Heraclitus, Bramante as Euclid , or Sodoma, painting partner for the Stanza’s ceiling, next to his own . This is where we begin to see his ability to create a virtual reality.

According to Oxford American Dictionaries, “Virtual reality” can be defined as “a computer-generated simulation of a 3D environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real way by a person using the equipment”. In other words, the elements in the virtual realm work together to create a convincing environment in a fun way. Raphael did this very thing with the Stanza except without computers, instead, paintbrush-generated, which is more limiting and impressive. Because current people at the time were included on his frescoes, there’s an immediacy of the figures, as though you are part of the painting yourself or even that the paintings are brought to life out of the walls amongst you. Additionally, it’s one thing to have static familiar figures, but the extremely spirited composition makes one feel they’ve stepped outside onto a bustling, sunny university campus. Raphael used his graceful brushwork, balanced and harmonious technique to give these figures life as “characters in a ‘story’”, endowing them many gestures, poses, facial expressions to bring out their reciprocal relationships. Observing these relationships gives the viewer an emotional connection as well, just as one gets attached to characters in a narrative animation.

Animation, especially in the digital age, has aimed to do achieve this feeling. Characters interact with various relationships, camera angles are complex, environments are vast, moral story is applicable - all to draw you into the film. Seeing animations in 3D now make it seem as though you're there even further. As Raphael proves, one can trace this experience back to the renaissance.