Raphael’s School of Athens

School of Athens by Raphael is situated in the Vatican, Roma. This frieze was painted alongside three other friezes in the pontifical apartment buildings. During Raphael’s visit to Rome in 1508, he was commissioned by Pope Julius II, to paint the walls of his library. The Stanza della Segnatura represents the four themes of knowledge namely: religion, philosophy, poetry and law. His most spectacular work in the Apostolic Palace was the School of Athens. This painting has come to be regarded as a perfect representation of the orthodox fortitude of the High Renaissance.
In the School of Athens painting, one can see several Greek philosophers gathered in an extremely huge hall. These philosophers are conversing with one another, talking about hypotheses or mathematical questions. This gathering stands for philosophical thinking, and the exploration of facts thus as the title suggests, this was a school where the philosophers were presenting their ideas to each other and to the onlookers. On the wall, there are pictures and statuettes. Raphael has made use of contours with domes and concrete contour with statures. Personalities are set like artistes in a timeworn architectural background.
Raphael has represented several great, ancient thinkers, and most importantly Plato and Aristotle who are shown at the middle of the painting. The painting has a visual projection of the words “Causarum Cognito”, which is an echo of Aristotle’s accent on knowledge. Every of the philosopher depicted worked hard to comprehend knowledge and its foundations. The two philosophers are shown, Plato pointing to the sky and Aristotle to the earth, and these motions symbolize the popular argumentation between idealism and realism. Plato is trying to explain to his student, Aristotle, of how the universe was created by a divine architect (demiurge). He points upwards to indicate that eternal trueness and figures such as the ideals of goodness, beauty and truth, are not in the world, but in never-ending, infinite sphere of pure ideas. Aristotle seems to disagree with his teacher’s idealism thus he points into the solid world of physical science, material realism, and realistic motive.
The other element of the frieze that draws in attention depicts the two philosophers, each holding a book. Plato is holding his book Timaeus indicating that he is the author of philosophy. On the other hand, Aristotle, who was Plato’s student, is taking hold of Nicomachean Ethics, his works, which is a symbol of his emphasis on knowledge. The portrait of Aristotle looks as he is at the peak of adulthood, and on the contrary, Plato comes out as aged, wise and gray. Surrounding these philosophers are other great Greek thinkers (Kren, Marx). However, it is difficult to identify all of them since the artist did not indicate any descriptions. Nevertheless, some of the philosophers have been popularly recognized as Socrates, Pythagoras and Euclid. Socrates is lecturing Alcibiades, Alexander and Xenophon. Meanwhile, Euclid inscribes in slate with his pair of compass as he gives a mathematical expression to his observers thus it looks as though he is indicating some geometric propositions. It is notable that, Pythagoras is as well introducing a mathematical presentation to his observers, where there is a young man holding a slate before Pythagoras. This slate contains numerals, and it can be said that Pythagoras is demonstrating to his audiences how he discovered the algebraic ratios.
Raphael also painted himself in the frieze to make it appear as though he was a part of the great philosophers. Additionally, Raphael has shown some esteem to the great men of his time. The stature of Plato bears a spectacular semblance to Leonardo da Vinci while the image of Heraclitus is a likeness of Michelangelo.
The structure that the philosophers are portrayed in has a shape of a Greek cross, which harmonizes Christian religion with pagan beliefs. The wall painting illustrates a string of homocentric circles that start in on from the vaults and closes above the heads of Aristotle and Plato. This circle is a symbol of perfection according to the ancient Greek word. Therefore, the circles and particularly the interior one, is a symbol of the mind of God, which covers the intellects of both Plato and Aristotle.
This work of art has been ordered in a brilliant way, visibly demonstrating Raphael’s exceptional ability. The introduction of every stature and every group merge to create ideal concord, array and stability, and, although so many figures are applied in the masterpiece, there is no crowding. For that reason, the painting is asymmetric, and the major center of attention in the composition is on Plato and Aristotle. The composition places more importance on the two thinkers than on the others as they are situated at the centre of the painting and they are the only ones standing facing the doorway, with the skies surrounding them. Raphael explores the philosophical ideas through the painting by depicting the philosophers passing along their ideas and notions to each other. It is apparent that the artist’s intent was to put across the social views as the philosophers are depicted socializing with one another as they share their thoughts. Without a doubt, this piece of art that is very realistic and well executed. It shows great respect and admiration for the Greek philosophers and their ideas.

The article was conducted by professional writer Olivia Adamson. She works as a professional writer at https://freshessay.net/ freshessay writing service, where you can find her already written stories.