Studie efter Rafaels "Disputa" 1686 - 1738

Hendrik Krock created this chalk drawing titled "Studie efter Rafaels "Disputa"" in Denmark, most likely in the early 18th century. It is a copy of a section of Raphael's famous fresco, "The Disputation of the Holy Sacrament". In Krock's time, the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts was newly founded, its teachings rooted in the classical tradition. Copying the old masters was a central part of artistic training. It taught students about composition, anatomy, and the idealization of form. This drawing then, reflects a specific institutional approach to art education. Krock's choice to copy Raphael, an artist canonized by the European academies, demonstrates the cultural values that were being instilled in artists at the time. Krock and his contemporaries sought to emulate the artistic achievements of the Italian Renaissance and disseminate them in Danish culture. To understand the role of this drawing fully, we must delve into the history of the academy and the broader artistic and political contexts in which Krock was working. The value we place on originality today was not always shared. Instead, the social role of art was to transmit established cultural values.