Raphael Sanzio was an Italian painter and architect who worked mainly in Florence and Rome during the period of High Renaissance (1483-1520). Raphael is known for his harmonic compositions, the detailed and carefully chosen movements of figures, and his ability to create paintings where the figures stand alone or as part of the whole (Gordon 52). In addition, Raphael was the master of foreshortening and perspective. Foreshortening means to adjust a figure to non-realistic proportions, so that figure gives the impression of being closer to the viewer. Perspective is a similar form of illustration where more distant objects are painted smaller and their edges of all objects are angled towards a single point of the horizon, the vanishing point.
When Raphael moved to Rome, Michelangelo had already started painting the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. Pope Julius II met the new artist and decided to assign him the decoration of several smaller rooms at the Apostolic Palace Vatican, known as Stanze. The School of Athens was the second fresco he completed between 1509 and 1511 for this project, which was a part of a quartet for the Pope’s library. Raphael decided to decorate this room by depicting the four branches of human knowledge; philosophy, theology, poetry, and justice.
The School of Athens is the tribute to the co-existence of pagan Greek philosophy and the modern Christian Italian culture (Gombrich 319). Raphael did not follow the norm that dictated to use allegorical figures but used the actual cornerstones of philosophy. The prominent figures in the center are Plato and Aristotle, founding figures of western philosophy, surrounded by other thinkers and philosophers of the time. They both hold their books and that is how they are identified. Plato is pointing upwards implying his cosmological theories and Aristotle is pointing down, as he focused his attention on the observable, the actual. Even the colors of their clothes are carefully chosen around their beliefs. Plato is wearing purple for air and red for fire, while Aristotle blue for water and green for earth. All the surrounding figures are divided into groups where one body passes among others without a sign of stiffness. They move gracefully as a reflection to their inner wisdom. The only exceptions are the two figures in front of the two philosophers, Diogenes and Heraclitus, who stand alone on the stairs in order to create space for the two main figures (Gordon 54). This painting is a tribute to classical thought and liberal arts, confirmed by the presence of the statues of Athens and Apollo. Geometry, Astronomy, Music, Arithmetic, and Grammar are personified by figures in the foreground.
The painting follows a specific geometry. It is divided into two parts with a vertical axis, separating the two philosophers. The line of the figures’ heads forms a line that ends in the vanishing point. Also, the ending of the arches and the lines of the tiles on the floor point towards that same spot. The background that Raphael created in this fresco resembles Bramante’s geometrical plan for the Basilica of Saint Peter, based on circles and squares. However, the background has a high dome, vaults, and pilasters, which reveals an intention to imitate Roman architecture. Last but not least, geometry is celebrated by the presence of Pythagoras who works on his system of proportions and Euclid who draws a circle.
The School of Athens is considered as one of the most important fresco examples of the High Renaissance. It received immediate success while the Sistine Chapel, which was created at the same time, was received with skepticism.
Works Cited
Getlein, Mark. Living with Art. New York: Mc Graw-Hill Education, 2009. Print.
Gombrich, Ernst. The Story of Art. London: Phaidon, 1951. Print.
Gordon, Dillian. 100 Great Paintings: Duccio to Picasso. London: The National Gallery, 1981. Print.
