THE SCHOOL OF ATHENS: A Gathering Of The Greats

The 16th century, the era of such immense talent one can do nothing but be mesmerised. It was the time of Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael. The list of their a/chievements and works can go on to no end, but for now we are only going to talk about Raffaelo Sanzio, commonly known as Raphael. To be more precise his painting, 'The School Of Athens'. Made between 1509 and 1511, it is counted as one of his biggest accomplishments.

Inspiration

The School Of Athens is a fresco. It is a part of many commissioned by the Pope so as to decorate a group of 4 rooms in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, known as the Stanze Di Raffaelo, which means The Raphael Rooms. This particular fresco was painted in the Stanze della Segnatura, which was the first one to be made and 'The School Of Athens' was the third of the four frescos in the room to be completed.

This piece of work is seen as Raphael's masterpiece. It is seen as the perfect embodiment of the classical spirit of Renaissance.

Interpretation and Features

  • It is a fresco. Which means it was painted on wet plater of he wall with the help of watercolours in quick and speedy manner, so that when it dries the colours are absorbed in the wall and are fixed.
  • The painting represents PHILOSOPHY. the other 3 represented Theology(La Disputa), Literature (Parnassus)and Jurisprudence. The School Of Athens is direct portrayal of science, art and philosophy. Over time it has come to be scene as the hallmark of Italian Renaissance.

  •  21 figures seen in the painting are identifiable of which some are more of calculated guesses. It can be rightfully said that there has been no unanimous agreement as to who all the people are in the painting.
  • The people in this paintings are all great philosophers, scientists, mathematicians and scholars
  •  Though named 'The School Of Athens' only about 1/3 of the figures are actually Athenians. It could be speculated that this name though not given by Raphael is due to the  fact that Athena was the goddess of wits and knowledge.
  • The central focus of the painting is at the 2 people recognised as Plato and Aristotle, who are standing at the top of the stairs in the middle of the archway. Plato can be seen pointing towards the sky, indicating the Theory of Forms (the physical world is mere material, imperfect and to interact on daily basis, while 'real' world is the spiritual realm of ideas filled with abstract concepts and ideas). Aristotle was his student and the horizontal position of his hand signifies Empiricism (humans must have concrete proof for all their ideas and is very much grounded in the physical world, knowledge comes from experience).  
  • Due to lack of pictures of many depicted in the painting, Raphael made them in image of other great scholars, painters, architect, etc. who he knew then. These people who were used as models included Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, etc.
  • Following are the people in the painting:
Aristotle

Leonardo Da Vinci as Plato

Pythagoras

Socrates
Bramante as Euclid


Archimedes displaying his principle 



The bearded man is Zoroaster and the one with his back towards the audience is Ptolemy

Michelangelo as Heraclitus

Diogenes

Alcibiades or Alexander the Great

Zeno of Citium


Epicurus

Apelles or
Parmenides

Aeschines of Sphettus

Anaximander

Antisthenes or Xenophon

Plotinus

Averros


  • The one figure mentioned above is Raphael's self-portrait. We know this as it is the only one looking directly at the audience. This figure is of Apelles, standing next to Zoroaster. Back then signatures were yet to become popular, this was a way for many artists to say, "Hey! I made this."
  • Raphael used a lot of drawing to create the fresco. He made each figure separately as a sketch first and then to combine in one cartoon, before paining the fresco. These sketches as well as the preparatory cartoon are still preserved in Pinacoteca Ambrosiana (Milan), completely hand drawn by Raphael. This shows us that he worked in an organized and professional manner, all his is well documented. They are exactly like the painting except missing a few details.

  • An immense architectural illusion has been painted by Raphael which can be seen distinctly in the design of the archway. This was done with the help of Donato Bramante, the architect of the largest Church, St. Basilica. He is also modelled in the painting as Euclid.
Design of the arch

  •  A statue of Apollo, the Greek god of music, poetry, archery and sun as well as one of Athena, the Greek goddess of knowledge, wisdom and wits, dresses as her Roman counterpart, Minerva.
Apollo (left) and Athena (Right)

Interesting Facts

  • The fresco is labelled 'Causarum Cognitio', which literally means 'Knowledge of Causes'. This was its original title and is considered more apt as it is more general than 'The School Of Athens', a title not given by Raphael.
  •  The painting was commissioned by Pope Julius II in hopes to outshine his predecesor Pope Alexander IV, whose Early Renaissance paintings were right below.
  • This was painted during the same time when Michelangelo was painting the ceiling of Sistine Chapel with masterpieces like 'The Creation Of Adam' just a few blocks away.
Michelangelo's paintings in Sistine Chapel

  • Raphael found inspiration in the work don by Michelangelo at the Sistine Chapel, when he snuck in to see it amidst its making. This can be seen through the similarities in the way the figure and allegories are painted in both of them.
Sistine Chapel


  • Raphael painted this fresco in his 20s. Before this he was only known for making small portraits and paintings.
  • This painting like most famous ones has many copies. One of them can be found in the Old Cabell Hall at the University of Virginia. it was created in 1902 by George W. Breck and is nearly the same size as the original. The most famous one was created in 1755 by Anton Raphael Mengs and is on display in the eastern Cast Court of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
A copy by Anton Raphael Meng




Hope you found the information and interesting. Please leave a comment, your feedbacks are very appriciated. Everyone is also welcome to leave requests. Please subscribe for newsletter (option on the top) also follow me on instagram @detail_artwith_a12 for instant updates.

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A.


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