# Prime Mover \(ceiling panel\)

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/prime-mover-ceiling-panel-rb91da5f717e583>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [RAFFAELLO Sanzio](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c>)
- Date: 1501-1550
- Technique: Fresco, 120 x 105 cm

## Commentary

The figure bending in a beautiful scorcio over the celestial globe is a masterly example of perspective. Philosophically, this figure can be seen as an allegory of the beginning of the universe, but it might also be an embodiment of the science of astronomy. The constellation on the globe can be calculated exactly: the night of 31 October 1503, the date that Julius II was elected pope.

## Related artworks

- [A Group of Nude Men](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/a-group-of-nude-men-r02875d889ef1ae>)
- [A Group of Warriors](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/a-group-of-warriors-re9597bd18b1b6c>)
- [A nude man advancing to the right \(verso\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/a-nude-man-advancing-to-the-right-verso-r10d1d88f996ed8>)
- [A Soldier before the Cell of St Peter](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/a-soldier-before-the-cell-of-st-peter-r53ba61c328af3e>)
- [A Youthful Warrior \(recto\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/a-youthful-warrior-recto-rb384ca81f90665>)
- [Adam and Eve \(ceiling panel\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/adam-and-eve-ceiling-panel-r2f4fa75860c739>)
- [Aerial view](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/aerial-view-re570abb5db68ac>)
- [Aldobrandini Madonna \(Garvagh Madonna\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/aldobrandini-madonna-garvagh-madonna-r1f0b7cf1744735>)
- [Allegory \(The Knight&#39;s Dream\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/allegory-the-knights-dream-r6c9ba9cafbe37e>)
- [Amorini at play \(verso\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/amorini-at-play-verso-rdd68b1261b12f6>)
- [An Angel](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/an-angel-ra36424d25e0044>)
- [Angel \(fragment of the Baronci Altarpiece\)](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/raffaello-sanzio-r5e787e781f4a4c/angel-fragment-of-the-baronci-altarpiece-rf740d870bc7dfc>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)